Criticism over President Obama’s handling of Ebola has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks.
The latest uproar is over Obama’s appointment of Ron Klain to oversee handling of Ebola incidents in the U.S. Many critics are outraged that Klain has no medical expertise, while others are directing their anger towards the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for being caught flat-footed by this deadly, exotic disease.
Yet, much of this criticism is shortsighted and misdirected.
The real failure of the administration, our government and us lies in an unwillingness to act in a timely and meaningful way.
The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa began back in March 2014, yet the media storm surrounding the outbreak began to rage here at home only after a Liberian man, Thomas Eric Duncan, landed in Dallas infected with Ebola. Our concern about containing and eliminating Ebola only became genuine after it landed on our doorstep unannounced.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa shows no signs of slowing, as the death toll continues to rise. The World Health Organization (WHO) believes it will take several more months to stop the epidemic. This outbreak alone has killed more people, over 4,800 and growing, than the last four major outbreaks combined, making it the worst outbreak since 1976 when Ebola was first discovered.
The lack of understanding about the virus and how to respond to it has caused panic among the affected region’s citizens and only fueled the spread of Ebola in West Africa. This can largely be attributed to the region’s poverty and inadequate healthcare. In fact, the access to proper healthcare is so poor in countries struggling with the infection, like Guinea, many have never even been to a doctor.
As a result they are distrustful of the physicians, who have gone to help quell the epidemic, like those from Doctors Without Borders. There are accounts of armed locals restricting access to the sick, believing that the health workers who have traveled there are, in fact, the cause of the epidemic.
To make matters worse, many health workers in West Africa rely heavily on scarce supplies, like makeshift tents, to quarantine and treat the infected due to the lack of hospitals and treatment facilities.
For many years, the developed nations have ignored the extreme poverty in developing nations like Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Viral outbreaks, civil wars and insurrections are merely symptoms of the underlying fundamental issues facing developing nations—like the lack of clean water, medical facilities and food supply.
We, as a nation, should strive to be more proactive in foreign affairs, as we certainly have the means to make a real and lasting difference around the world. For example, in 2013, The Water Project raised $1.8 million to help the poor in sub-Saharan Africa gain access to clean, sustainable water sources. While CBS’s going rate for a 30 second ad in the Super Bowl was between $3.7 and $3.8 million in 2013.
Had we taken an interest in the struggles and suffering of the peoples in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone sooner, Ebola may not have reached U.S. soil.
As Americans, we must come to understand that in today’s interconnected world we can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to plight of other countries—for one country’s epidemic can quickly become our own.