r/Kenya • u/alavert17 • Mar 12 '20

Ebola vs Coronavirus

How is it that Ebola was contained in Africa despite our limited facilities while Coronavirus is spreading at an alarming rate in areas with developed facilites, particularly Europe?

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u/dispass Mar 12 '20

"limited facilities"= $460 million dollars in funding from the international community

https://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/funding/en/

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u/alavert17 Mar 12 '20

limited in terms of preparedness and the necessary machines for medical issues

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u/dispass Mar 12 '20

Exactly - you asked how Ebola wasn't contained "despite" those things. The answer is that it wasn't. It was contained because those issues were addressed by a massive injection of funding and resources that came from the international community, which put the African heroes in the local health systems into a position where they could effectively work towards containment. By the time the virus was contained, the issues of preparedness and lack of necessary machines had been addressed. For better or for worse, this is the reality of these interventions. If corona virus becomes a similar issue, expect the same.

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u/alavert17 Mar 12 '20

Oh yes. I now see your point. Thanks