Ebola Threatens Global Health Security

To date, the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has taken the lives of more than 1,500 of the 3,000 people infected with the disease. Several former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) authored an op-ed in USA TODAY emphasizing that this outbreak demonstrates the importance of the United States taking the lead in promoting a robust global health security agenda.  

Drs. William Foege, James Mason and David Satcher, all former directors of the CDC, are the authors of this post. They stress that a global health security agenda will save lives, and it will protect economies by arresting dangerous diseases before they spread across the globe.

The op-ed also points out that implementing an effective global health security network is not without cost, but these costs are only a fraction of what ultimately would be spent by taking a more passive approach.

The authors say in their post, “While some might question whether we should be concerned about health issues in other parts of the world, the citizens of our country need to know that this work is as essential as protecting our nation from terror-related threats.”

Learn more about what CDC is doing to respond to the Ebola outbreak.