When a single issue, disease or disaster rises above others and achieves global notoriety, aid watchers often worry about resources and funding getting sapped from less eye-catching — but equally pressing — priorities.
While many have criticized that the global response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa was too little, too late, others wonder whether non-Ebola programs will suffer as funding and attention flows to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
But as global health leaders pointed out Nov. 4 in Washington, D.C., the spotlight on Ebola could help, not hinder, public health professionals seeking funds for HIV research and other public health initiatives.