{UAH} Wall Street Journal: A Tale of Two Africas
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As West African countries try to battle Ebola, countries such as Uganda provide a model for improved detection and prevention
Uganda defeated the epidemic several months later, but by then, 425 people contracted Ebola, and more than half of them had died. It was the largest Ebola outbreak on record—until this year.
Today, Uganda has a different Ebola story to tell. The East African nation has had four more occurrences with the disease, but none has proved as deadly as the first in 2000. Authorities from the nation's president to village leaders exhort Ugandans to be on the lookout for people with symptoms. Health officials screen airline passengers and have stockpiled hospitals with supplies. Teams of veterinarians test wildlife for viruses like Ebola that can infect humans. Uganda has even sent doctors to West Africa to train medical staff there during the outbreak.
The contrast with the countries where Ebola is raging now—Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone—paints a picture of two Africas. One has built up a health and education system to shield itself against Ebola and other emergent disease threats. The other Africa is in chaos, its public health systems in shambles.
Uganda's experience offers the world a timely lesson as the outbreak threatens to burst beyond West Africa. It isn't only rich countries with sophisticated hospitals and expansive pharmaceutical industries that can squash outbreaks.
Brian M. Kwesiga
President and CEO,
Ugandan North American Association - UNAA
972.415.6372 | www.unaa.org | "United We Stand"
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