ABSTRACT With over 4,500 deaths and counting, and new cases identified in two developed countries that are struggling and faltering in their handling of the epidemic, the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic is unlike any of its kind ever encountered. The ability of some poor, resource-limited, developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa to efficiently handle the epidemic within their shores provides some lessons learned for the global health community. Among others, the 2014 EVD epidemic teaches us that it is time to put the “P” back in public and population health around the world. The global health community must support a sustainable strategy to mitigate Ebola virus and other epidemics both within and outside their shores, even after the cameras are gone. Ebola virus must not be called the disease of the poor and developing world. Key Words : Ebola • Global Health • Global Health Ethics • Healthcare Systems • Health Disparities • Nigeria Copyright © 2015 Azuine et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2015 Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. In September and October, 2014, the United States (US) and Spain, respectively, became the first two developed countries of the world to record the diagnoses of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in their lands outside West Africa during the current 2014 EVD epidemic. For the US, it was the nation’s first case of EVD transmitted across international lines. The patient, now deceased, contracted Ebola virus and travelled to US from his native Liberia, one of the West African country at the center of what has become one of the most challenging infectious disease outbreaks and national security threats in modern times.[1,2] The other four countries are Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. For Spain, it was the nation’s first case of an indigenous Ebola virus infection for a nurse, who had earlier cared for two Spaniard missionaries who later died from the virus which they contracted in West Africa.[3] Doubtful Advanced Healthcare Systems With the death of the first patient in the US, subsequent infection of the nurses who cared for him, and the fears that more infections lay ahead, the US, and overall healthcare system in the Western world, has come at the center of global scrutiny and debate. For the US and Spain, the events around the EVD cases have raised fundamental questions about the preparedness of the healthcare systems in advanced countries to handle the EVD epidemic, should that
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 13:01:55 +0000
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