President Obama Speaks on Ebola Virus at United Nations
Yesterday, I posted an article regarding the effects of the Ebola virus in communities in Western Africa. I spoke about the importance of the international community to work together to combat this virus. Later in the day, Julie Pace wrote an article entitled Obama urges world to do more to tackle Ebola. United States President Barack Obama, speaking at the United Nations, said that there was still much more that could be done to help stop the spread of the Ebola Virus. Speaking at the United Nations meeting, President Obama was quoted as saying that “The outbreak is such where at this point, more people will die[.]” He went on to say: “So this is not one where there should be a lot of wrangling and people waiting to see who else is doing what. Everybody has got to move fast in order for us to make a difference.”
Others in the international community have also made comments about the importance of aiding in the fight against Ebola. For example, Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma calling the virus “worse than terrorism.” According to Pace, “[h]is comments appeared to be a veiled reference to the degree to which the threat from Middle East extremists — most notably the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria — has dominated the discussions at the U.N. this week.”
The US government has responded by reallocating some of the money from the Afghanistan war to fighting the Ebola Virus. Other actors such as the European Union also raised the number of funds that were to be spent on fighting the Ebola Virus.
These are of course welcomed steps in the international response to the Ebola virus. It is indeed an important point to remember that Ebola must also be given a top priority in the international community. The world must continue to do all that it can to ensure that no more lives are lost. This means continuing to provide support, additional facilities, etc… Such a virus is devastating communities, and it is an obligation to help stop this virus from spreading.
