Editorial, Opinion Piece Discuss Obama’s Emergency Ebola Funding Request

Houston Chronicle: Too Ebola-focused
Editorial Board

“…According to Dr. Peter Hotez, founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, [Chagas and] other tropical diseases afflict some 12 million people in the United States. Hotez told the Chronicle last week that the Obama administration’s $6-billion-plus emergency funding request is ‘too Ebola-focused’ and that Washington also should be directing efforts to eradicate the more mundane diseases. … It only makes sense to invest in efforts to stop Ebola at its source, in the impoverished African nations where it continues to spread. But as Hotez points out, we also need to be investing in efforts to develop drugs and vaccines to combat tropical diseases that don’t get the attention Ebola commands…” (11/21).

The Hill: Fund the emergency response for Ebola
Koma Gandy Fischbein, a fellow with the Truman National Security Project

“…The United States has the opportunity to lead the way at the intersection of foreign policy and global health, and support the effort to contain and stop the ugly march of Ebola at its source. President Obama requested an additional $6.18B in emergency funding to support domestic preparedness and international efforts to combat this crisis and leave in place the training and infrastructure to be better prepared to fight the next. This request has been bogged down and is still awaiting action. … Congress must set aside partisan politics to expeditiously move this request forward, or risk being on the wrong side of history” (11/22).

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