The following opinion pieces and editorial discuss issues surrounding the West African Ebola outbreak.

Los Angeles Times: To fight Ebola, create a Health Workforce Reserve force
Michele Barry, senior associate dean for global health and director of the Center for Innovation in Global Health at Stanford University, and Lawrence Gostin, a professor and director of the O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law at Georgetown University

“…Taking as our model the U.S. military reserve forces, we propose the formation of a Global Health Workforce Reserve, in which trained physicians and nurses with experience in low-resource settings enlist for a period of time…” (9/18).

Washington Post: The West ignores the stories of Africans in the middle of the Ebola outbreak
Ishmael Beah, author

“…[T]he way Western media framed the [Ebola] crisis to the world hasn’t helped. While of course precautions must be taken, the hysteria and hyperbole have led to an unnecessary isolation that is making the outbreak more difficult to address…” (9/19).

Forbes: The Dire Need For A Rapid Diagnostic Ebola Test In West Africa
Bill Frist, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and a physician

“…A very rapid test would be game-changing for Ebola. … The benefit here is threefold: fast and early quarantine to separate patients at risk for infecting others making the rest of the hospital safer; replacing fear and anticipation with knowledge; and a more efficient use of quarantine resources because they are saved for people with known Ebola infections…” (9/19).

The Lancet Global Health: Ebola: the missing link
Zoë Mullan, editor of The Lancet Global Health

“…[W]hat must not be forgotten is the responsibility of the national authorities to direct and communicate in a way that protects the human rights of those they have been elected to lead. The people of Liberia, and those of other affected countries, must be able to rely on the commitment, transparency, and cohesion of their own governments in times of national crisis” (9/18).

Boston Globe: After Ebola: Rebuilding Liberia’s health care infrastructure
Michael Murphy and Alan Ricks, co-founders of MASS Design Group

“…When Ebola is all over, the international community will have an important opportunity to consider how and what to invest in to ensure such a devastating outbreak does not occur again. We must choose to build better buildings. Only then will health infrastructure systems finally be strong enough to resist such formidable challenges to their resilience…” (9/17).

Wired: How Ebola Can Teach Us to Prepare for the Next Great Pandemic
Franklyn Prendergast, Steven Reed, and Darrick Carter of the Infectious Disease Research Institute

“…The rapid increase of Ebola and MERS point toward the need to be vigilant, to anticipate, and to prepare for the next outbreak. While we don’t know what or when, we do know one thing: there will be another disease outbreak, posing a threat to both health and economy…” (9/20).

Boston Globe: Containing Ebola: Better late than never
Editorial Board

“…The economic fallout [from Ebola], just like the disease, is something that can be anticipated and mitigated — but only if the United States and other powers recognize the value of promoting public health up front, in a world where the rapid movement of people also allows the rapid transmission of deadly viruses” (9/21).

New England Journal of Medicine: Ebola — An Ongoing Crisis
Editorial Board

“…We, as a global health care community, must move decisively to bring this dangerous epidemic under control and then to improve the health care systems in the affected region. This will require more resources and more health care workers on the front lines … It will also require communication and teamwork to win the trust of those in the affected communities…” (9/19).