Viewpoint: Public, Private Sectors Must Work Together to Manage Next Pandemic
Monday, July 2, 2018
By Norwegian Ambassador Kåre R. Aas
The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa was a wake-up call — a stark reminder of how vulnerable our societies can be to epidemics of infectious diseases.
At the time of this writing, there is a new outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We were not ready in 2014. I hope the measures and tremendous efforts put in place recently in the DRC will be enough to stop the outbreak this time. The health workers risking their lives every day to prevent further spread of this disease deserve our deepest gratitude and respect.
History has taught us that there will be future deadly global pandemics. We therefore need to invest in better tools, effective early detection and a more robust global response system. The key to avoiding massive loss of life is the timely availability of vaccines.
Photo courtesy of Army Medicine.
Source: The Washington Diplomat (link opens in a new window)
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