Ebola & COVID-19: An unfortunate parallel

In Global Advocacy, Uganda by Fiona Ip

The novel coronavirus outbreak has unfortunately brought many health experts’ predictions to fruition about global pandemics – it’s not if, but when.

As our heroic and selfless health workers work tirelessly on frontlines of the crisis, we can use this moment to revisit a time that should have been a wakeup call for the world regarding deadly infectious disease—the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

That outbreak showed glaring similarities to COVID-19, including a delayed and insufficient response from the World Health Organization and a scarcity of the most basic minimum requirements for personal protective equipment, which even today, remains a key deficiency for nations all over the world.

We invite you to watch our film, Ebola: The AHF Response, which documents an outbreak that killed over 11,000 people, including two AHF doctors. And while you watch, let us not forget the painful lessons we should have learned then, that will hopefully make it crystal clear to global health agencies today about how important it is to prepare in advance for the next health emergency.

 

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