As we watch the Ebola tragedy continue, we have felt helpless. We want to do something to help, but have realized our limitations. Much of the needs now are due to bottlenecks in the system, logistics and manpower. Although unable to provide the needed expertize to solve those issues, we hope to help the overall effort through our support of Hans Rosling and his organization, Gapminder. With logarithmic growth of deaths and infection rates, every day is critical. Decision and policy makers need accurate information to strengthen the overall efficacy of the effort. And data is Professor Rosling’s and Gapminder’s expertize. As an expert in pandemics, Professor Hans Rosling was sent by the UN to “cut through the red tape” and understand exactly what methods will be most effective to stop the spread of this disease. His son and CEO of Gapminder, Ola Rosling, is heading the effort of building a data-analysis back-bone for Hans Rosling’s field work. Unfortunately, the disease is spreading so quickly that the various health agencies have a difficult time compiling and comparing data. Also, there is little time to sanity check the figures and make the educated assumptions needed for a fast and suitable response. There is just no time for missteps. With Hans Rosling on the ground, and Ola Rosling and his expert team of data programmers in Stockholm, Gapminder can pull data together that is not actually “talking” – from the World Bank, UN, UNICEF, WHO, etc. on a daily basis. For example, there is poverty data not being mapped against Ebola rates. Ebola is growing faster in these areas. Decision and policy makers need to know where in order to better combat the spread. Through this effort, partly funded by The World We Want Foundation, Gapminder will hopefully be able to provide a more meaningful overview to West Africa’s leaders, MSF, the UN, and other actors in the region thereby strengthening the International Community’s response.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 09:51:42 +0000
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