Pressure Building on Obama to Impose Ebola Travel Ban

Children in the town of Gueckedou, the epicentre of the ebola outbreak in Guinea. Credit: ©afreecom/Idrissa SoumaréBy Carey L. BironWASHINGTON, Oct 17 2014 (IPS)President Barack Obama is under significant pressure to impose a range of restrictions on travellers coming to the United States from West African countries affected by the current Ebola outbreak.Yet public health experts and development advocates warn that such restrictions would harm the already reeling economies of Ebola-hit countries in the region, and squeeze the international community’s ability to get health workers and goods into these countries.“If we get this wrong and just hunker down and hide, we will make this problem worse both in West Africa and in the United States.” -- Charles Kenny of the Center for Global Development“An accelerated mobilisation of personnel and resources is necessary to control the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and care for patients, through the establishment of new Ebola management centres,” Tim Shenk, a press officer with Medecins Sans Frontieres, the humanitarian group that has been at the core of the international response to the epidemic, told IPS.“For this reason, it is crucial that airlines continue flying to the affected region.”Calls for halting flights and imposing visa restrictions have been floating around Washington since the virus’s spread caught the world’s attention over the summer. Yet these have strengthened substantially in recent days, followi...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Active Citizens Africa Civil Society Development & Aid Economy & Trade Featured Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies North America Poverty & MDGs TerraViva United Nations Trade & Investment Barack Obama CSIS ebola Libe Source Type: news