If ISIS, the mess in Iraq, and the problems in the Ukraine are not enough, the relatively new crisis with the advent and spread of Ebola, serves to make complex crisis even more complex and frustrating. It adds to the existing anxiety of the American people.
Like several other national events, the Ebola situation appears to have been handled with errors, miscommunications and confusion by several agencies of the national government. This is a public health problem which all governmental components need to get right.
In many ways, with the Ebola mess, common sense seems to have taken a holiday. Common sense seems to dictate that the United States establish a travel ban period for air travel arriving d from the three West African nations from which the majority of Ebola cases come. Such a temporary ban of ninety days to six months would allow the African nations the opportunity to more effectively deal with the crisis in their midst and the United States to handle any cases present and continue to implement protocols and procedures. Certainly, cargo planes can continue to serve the needs of the affected countries on the African continent.
Here in the United States there are several measures that can be implemented to deal with this public health situation. Since perception is any important part of dealing with such an issue as Ebola, it would be most appropriate to have a Surgeon General to act as the face of the federal government and the definitive spokesman in this matter. At present, there is no Surgeon General for the United States.
As with the so called coalition to deal with ISIS, where is the international community in the battle against Ebola? Yes, the United States, as in many issues, needs to take effective leadership in such as issue as Ebola. The U.S. has the expertise resources and trained personnel needed to help stop this very deadly virus in its tracks. Where is the international community?
One of the basic functions of government along with defense and security is that of assuring the public health of the nation. The United States, above all, must protect the health, safety and well being of all Americans. Indeed, it can be argued that there is a constitutional responsibility so to do. The Ebola threat is not the fault of either the Republican or Democratic parties. It is an American problem. How this crisis is managed by the President and the Congress is indeed a matter for public scrutiny and concern. The appointment of an “Ebola Czar”, a political Washington operative, with no public health experience is disappointing.
Up to now there has been too much tumult in the matter of Ebola. The government and the press have a responsibility to provide accurate information, facts and appropriate assurances. The press, with their 24/7 news cycle has particular responsibility to simply report accurate facts, not to editorialize in news pieces and assist the public health officials in informing the American public of the status of the progress being made in the serious Ebola battle.
We are the United States of America; we have the capacity to lead and be a key player in the fight against Ebola. The record of history should reflect that not one American citizen was lost to Ebola. Seize the day, Mr. President. Ebola has no time constraints.
Kathi Donegan says
Just to round out the information….
Ebola was first reported in 1976 in Zaire with 318 cases. Last year there were 6 cases in Uganda. 2014 brings over 5,000 in multiple countries. The jump seems to be linked to a better diagnoses system and medical reporting.
The Republicans have cheerfully though I’m sure reluctantly, voted down on Murthy as Surgeon General. As they have many, many other appointments.
Ron Klain, who is officially the Ebola Response Coordinator but also known as the Ebola Czar by some media groups, may not have a medical background but is aces at putting together action plans, seeing the forest for the trees, listening and executing. He will have more than enough experts at his disposal. We need a coordinator and not someone with their – and only their – opinion.
And lastly, it is beyond insulting to insinuate that the rest of the world is twiddling its collective fingers while this virus rears it’s ugly head. I would like to direct Mr. Fletcher to other media outlets and Google. I could list a dozen but you may just want to start here with the World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/131596/1/EbolaResponseRoadmap.pdf?ua=1
Thank you.
James Nick says
Well it looks like the sky is falling in Mr Hall’s world again. Mr Hall labels the Ebola outbreak as a complex and frustrating crisis producing near panic-level anxiety among the American people. And our government (read: President Obama, of course) and public health services are totally incapable of handling the situation without “errors, miscommunications and confusion”.
Really???? Does anyone think it’s possible that Mr Hall could be working another agenda given that the mid-term elections are next week? As usual, let’s review the facts to see.
Is there an Ebola epidemic in the US? Not even close. There have only been nine cases of Ebola in the US so far and only two of those cases originated in the US. More people in the US will die of the flu this year than from Ebola.
Is getting Ebola an automatic death sentence? it doesn’t seem to be. According to numbers reported here… https://www.cnn.com/2014/04/11/health/ebola-fast-facts/ the death rate in the most heavily affected countries in Africa are 60% in Liberia and Guinea, 40% in Nigeria, and 33% in Sierra Leone. And that’s under the atrocious and woefully inadequate health care conditions in the third world Only one person has died from Ebola in the US. Virtually everyone else with Ebola that has been treated in the US has survived.
Is Ebola highly contagious? It doesn’t seem to be. Consider the case of Mr Duncan, the Liberian man in Dallas that was mishandled by the hospital (not by the CDC or NIH). Three people lived in close proximity to him in his apartment and none contracted the virus nor did the dozens of other people he came in contact with. And so far no one else that has had casual contact with any other Ebola victim has been infected.
Are the Government and public health services mishandling Ebola? Based on what has actually happened so far (see above), how can anyone reasonably come to that conclusion? But on this score I have to wonder in what sort of Camelot world Mr Hall lives. Evidently in his universe the government is not permitted to have a learning curve. No matter the challenge, it must always work perfectly the first time, every time and one misstep is reason enough to immediately accuse it of making life-threatening errors and sowing confusion though miscommunications. That should be contrasted with private industry which, of course, everyone knows, always works perfectly.
Then there are the three other spurious charges that Mr Halls throws up as flak just to agitate. First he calls for an air travel ban for people arriving from the most affected West African nations. As has been repeatedly pointed out, it is an almost logistical impossibility to implement such a ban as there are no direct flights to/from the US from these countries. People flying in from these countries can arrive on connecting flights from anywhere in the world.
Next Mr Hall correctly notes that there is currently no US Surgeon General. But he fails to mention that that’s because his Republican allies in Congress have block conformation hearings because the NRA objects to the candidate. Can you believe it? Here we are with a significant public health issue and an NRA hissy fit about, what else, guns, has left us hobbled.
Finally, Mr Hall twice asks ” Where is the international community?” Perhaps Mr Hall should have done a little internet research on that. If he did he would have discovered that there are 60 international NGOs responding to the Ebola outbreak (https://www.cidi.org/ebola-ngos/) plus many other countries besides the US. Has he not heard of Doctors Without Borders, a French operation, who are in the thick of it.
But, in the end, Mr Hall could be right, I guess. There’s just no way out of all this “tumult”. Unlike AIDS and Y2K, we’re all surely doomed this time, no doubt about it. Unless that is, everyone goes out next Tuesday and votes for all the Republicans. They’ll know what to do. They will surely save us. They will use their universal elixir that solves all problems: they’ll give rich people more tax cuts. That’ll do it.
Joe Lill says
…I thought for a second or two that Mr. Hall would blame Ebola on Benghazi…and the conspiracy that surrounds it! Due diligence on research prior to letting his fingers type a commentary has never been Mr. Hall’s strong suit and it seems he lives in a delusional world!
Steve Payne says
There aren’t many Democrats fighting this sort of thing. Every debate I’ve seen goes down exactly the same. Obama gets blamed for everything with some made up problems thrown in for good measure. Then accuse your opponent of being Obama’s partner.
I looks like it’s working to me.
Ed Plaiance says
For those of you who have the stamina to continually reply to Mr Hall’s never-ending, sky-is-falling, woe-is-us, it’s-all-Obama’s-fault, biased attempts at political essays, more power to you. I think he may thrive on the negative attention. I am losing interest.
Taking this sentence he penned above, I have changed two words…and wonder if Mr Hall could ever conceive of having written these words???:
“Like several other national events, the Iraq invasion situation appears to have been handled with errors, miscommunications and confusion by several agencies of the national government. This is a public policy problem which all governmental components need to get right.”
Something tells me that W’s connection with a certain political party absolves him.
Stephan Sonn says
It won’t be long before Joe McCarthy is treasured lore.