How the private sector can pitch in to help combat Ebola
Monday, September 29, 2014
While health workers on the ground continue to struggle to contain the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the United Nations, international nongovernmental organizations and other donors are appealing to the private sector for help.
And the need couldn’t be greater.
“Nothing that has been done to date has put a slight dent in the speed of the [spread of] disease,” Ken Isaacs, vice president of programs and government relations at relief agency Samaritan’s Purse, said Friday during a conference call hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Corporate Citizenship Center.
He likened the epidemic to a fast-moving freight train.
In this context, the private sector — especially corporations already operating in the most affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — have a crucial role to play, according to Lisa Doughten, chief adviser for resource mobilization and private sector relations at the newly formed U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response.
Source: Devex (link opens in a new window)
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