It is getting more scary by the day. The new case of Ebola detected in Spain, in the wake of the US case that resulted in the patient’s death on Wednesday, rachets up the fear factor that has been Ebola’s handmaiden since its outbreak in West Africa earlier this year. As predictions go, the World Health Organisation (WHO) seems to have not erred on the side of alarmism as the spread of Ebola now seems to be a question of when and not if. A trickle is often the precursor of a flood and these two cases of Ebola outside the West African region can no longer be dismissed as isolated ones, not unless the world has reneged on its responsibility to its people.
There are several fronts on which this war with Ebola needs to be fought: Firstly, on the front lines by deploying skilled personnel, medical equipment, treatment units, mobile laboratories and other critical field operations requirements. Next, behind the scenes, where those not affected by Ebola yet are struggling to maintain normality in quarantined or sequestered conditions; their societies and countries isolated by exigencies of the moment and as a result, economically weakened. These people of the stricken countries in West Africa need help with daily needs, preventive health measures, civic amenities and food supplies. All of this requires a staggering amount of money — the $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) fund the United Nations has projected as an imperative is far short of its target at present — thousands of trained field operators across medical and non-medical domains and massive infrastructure help. Therefore, the efforts of a few countries, including the US, and organisations like WHO and the World Bank, in fighting Ebola are simply not enough. They cannot be because Ebola’s threat is no longer regionalised — it is global.
Given that Ebola respects no borders, the only way to stop it is for countries to forget their own borders and come together as a single indomitable force to fight it. Anything short of this unity will lead to unimaginable consequences for the whole world.
