Nature: Building trust is essential to combat the Ebola outbreak
Editorial Board

“…Central to [the] problem [of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)] is a lack of trust. … Researchers should consider the reasons for such skepticism, so that they can help to reduce it — because, without trust, the tools they’ve developed to fight the disease will not contain this emergency. … [M]embers of the international research community can do more. They can help to sound the alarm, and can highlight the broader problems to colleagues, health officials, and world leaders. Specifically, researchers can pressure politicians in wealthier countries to step up funding for the efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO) and their national partners in North Kivu. … Researchers can also play a part in strengthening the DRC’s biomedical and health institutions, helping to build communities’ trust in the nation’s health system. … The DRC outbreak could continue for another year. In that time, the virus could spread through porous borders into fragile nations such as Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. The opportunity to act is now” (3/22).