| This seems to be the usual knee jerk military can solve everything response you would expect from Americans, and also African governments who are always eager for handouts from Western governments. So you want to send the military in? Do you have any idea of the size of the area in which you would have to deploy them, coupled with the panic their presence might cause, together with the issues which would be caused by militia factions which would inevitably arise to tackle what they would rightfully see as an invasion of their countries? What did the UN manage to do after the Haitian earthquake that the Haitians couldn't have done themselves, besides introducing cholera to the region and nearby countries? What African countries need to do is what they would have to do if there was no possibility of outside support. In this case it is not even a question of central government intervention when it is more a question of dealing with Ebola at the local level or county / village level. Moving infected people to centralized locations for treatment means more travel and the possibly infected relatives and carers for the ill spreading the disease more, unless they are transported by specialist units. The process of travelling to report an infection and calling for a specialist unit itself carries the risk of the traveller spreading the disease let alone the person with the symptoms. The only way to contain Ebola is to give the families or communities of infected people the knowledge, the drugs, the equipment and the protective clothing to they need to treat themselves and the economic support they will need when they are isolated, which needs to be done at a local level. That means sustained public education via television and video, protective clothing for carers and disease detection kits. |