The spread of Ebola through West Africa was a vivid demonstration of the outsized threat global health crises pose to international stability and security. The lessons learned from the earliest days of the outbreak point us toward improving our response to the next crisis. High among those lessons must be a clearer understanding of how — and how quickly — assistance could move to the worst stricken regions. The absence of a deliberate planning process for transportation and logistics proved an enormous barrier to effectively deploy essential equipment and personnel where it was most needed.
The ability of the international community, individual governments, private companies, and civil society to rally and stop the spread of the disease was largely due to the deployment of the US military to West Africa to coordinate response logistics, training, and engineering support, in support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Among lessons learned from the Ebola outbreak is that building capacity for a coordinated response to global health emergencies is essential to preventing and combatting these threats.
Watch this event below or here.
WHAT: A presentation followed by a moderated discussion with US Army Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky on strengthening global health response.
Featuring:
US Army Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky
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