Five years ago, a devastating outbreak of Ebola in west Africa claimed more than 11,000 lives, and sparked an international panic as it reached the US and Europe. But this outbreak has become the second most deadly despite efforts to combat it over the last year. But help only trickled in when western countries began to worry about the potential danger to their own citizens. As the WHO chief said, the decision to call this an emergency should not be used to stigmatise or penalise the very people who most need help. One lesson from the 2014 outbreak was that real international commitment can bring the disease under control.

Source: The Guardian July 18, 2019 17:26 UTC