Health Care Equity Needed To Fight Ebola

Many of us have felt helpless watching the devastation caused by Ebola in West Africa, which has killed nearly 11,000, and sickened thousands more. After a disgracefully sluggish start to the international aid response, Liberia has celebrated a milestone with no new cases for five consecutive weeks, and there have been no new health worker infections for the last two weeks. However, Sierra Leone and Guinea are still fighting to eradicate the disease. Faced with the daunting realities of the Ebola epidemic, health care professionals across the U.S. raised their collective voice to advocate for equity as a key weapon against Ebola, signing the Health Professionals’ Petition Regarding Emergency Measures for Ebola Control. An International Response To Ebola Ebola’s toll reaches beyond those infected and will linger long into the future. It has shattered already fragile health care systems in the hardest hit countries, destroying the infrastructure essential to ensure safe childbirth, the delivery of immunizations, the treatment of malaria, and other lifesaving care. West Africa is losing much of the public health progress it has made towards the health-related Millennium Development Goals. The current shock can be traced to the global inequality that underlies poverty and the dysfunctional health systems that allow Ebola to thrive. It comes as no surprise that the mortality rates in West Africa far exceed countries with more health care resources. In failing to provide equ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Costs and Spending Featured Global Health Health Professionals Public Health Africa Ebola Health Care Spending health equality health equity infectious disease Millennium Development Goals mortality Vaccine WHO Source Type: blogs