America has proven it can handle isolated cases of Ebola that may occur in the US, but as long as outbreak continues to rage in three West African countries "this is still going to be a danger, not just for America but for the entire world," President Barack Obama said on Tuesday.
Obama also urged Congress to approve additional emergency funds to respond to the outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
"We are nowhere near out the woods yet in West Africa," he said in remarks at the White House.
"The good news is in parts of Liberia, our efforts, both civilian and military, are really paying dividends, and we are seeing the curve bending so that we are on track with diligence, dealing with the hot spots that may still re-emerge, to actually get a handle on that disease," he said. "We are still seeing an increase of cases in Sierra Leone, although our British counterparts are doing an excellent job working with us and the international community to coordinate the situation there." In Guinea, the numbers are lower than in Sierra Leone or Liberia, but they are often in very remote areas that are hard to reach, and some of the international coordination still needs to improve, he said.
Given that Ebola has emerged as such a large, significant outbreak in these areas, along with some cases in Mali, it underscores how important it is to continue to push forward until the disease is stamped out entirely in that region, Obama said. "Until we do, there are threats of additional outbreaks, and given the nature of international travel, it means that everybody has some measure of risk," he added.
While Americans should feel optimistic about the capacity to solve the Ebola crisis, "we cannot be complacent simply because the news attention on it has waned," the President said. "We have to stay with it, and that is why I am calling Congress to make sure that it approves, before it leaves, the emergency funding request that we have put forward to respond to Ebola, both domestically and internationally." The funding will help strengthen domestic health systems to respond to any future cases that may arise in the United States, wherever they might happen, he said.
The funds also will be devoted to much-needed resources to sustain US efforts to fight Ebola in West Africa, he said. The money also will accelerate the testing and approval of Ebola vaccines and treatments, "and it is going to help vulnerable countries to, in the future, prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks of various communicable diseases before they become epidemics," he said.
Source: KUNA