Health Systems In U.S., Africa, Asia Prepare To Diagnose, Care For Ebola Patients

News outlets report on how hospitals in the U.S., Africa, and Asia are preparing to respond to Ebola.

Agence France-Presse: Poor health systems in Asia cause for Ebola alarm
“The longer the Ebola outbreak rages in West Africa, the greater chance a traveler infected with the virus touches down in an Asian city. … Governments are ramping up response plans, stepping up surveillance at airports and considering quarantine measures. Still, health experts in the region’s less developed countries fear any outbreak would be deadly and hard to contain…” (Brummitt, 10/26).

Scientific American: Hospitals Need Time, Training to Get Ready for Ebola
“…Are facilities and health care workers [in the U.S.] ready to properly care for an infected patient — while also staying safe and preventing further spread of the disease? The answer to that question would appear to be no, given the case of Thomas Duncan, the Liberian patient who died from Ebola earlier this month in a Dallas hospital and infected two nurses. In the intervening weeks, agencies and advocacy groups have beefed up recommendations, training, and response protocols…” (Courage, 10/25).

Wall Street Journal: Ebola Forces African Hospital to Revamp, Retrain
“…The world is rushing to build Ebola-treatment units to alleviate the shortage of hospital beds for the swelling number of new cases. Yet general hospitals continue to serve their local communities for any number of ailments, including the deadly viruses that often-rundown government facilities here in Africa aren’t ready to handle. One answer is to retrofit the hospitals with safer entry and treatment areas for suspected Ebola patients…” (Wonacott, 10/26).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

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