• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • Opinion
    • News
    • Vuvuzela

    Sounding off on how to put an end to the Ebola outbreak

    Devex readers echo what many have said before: Strengthening health systems is key to preventing the spread of diseases like Ebola.

    By Ma. Eliza Villarino // 04 September 2014
    UNICEF partners at the Marché du Niger in Conakry, Guinea, help spread preventive measures and other health information on Ebola. Photo by: UNICEF Guinea / CC BY-NC 

    As of early September, there was still no letup to the spread of Ebola in West Africa. As of late August, more than 3,000 had come down with the disease — roughly half had died — and the World Health Organization had estimated that more than 20,000 people in the region could contract the virus during the course of the current outbreak.

    World leaders and global health experts were scrambling to find ways to bring the epidemic to an end because of its far-reaching impact.

    “Liberia is seeing violence rise again as a result of the destabilizing virus, illustrating a cycle that affects more than just health, but a nation’s ability to fully rebound from one shock before another hits,” noted Michael Myers, managing director at The Rockefeller Foundation, in an exclusive commentary for Devex.

    Myers echoes what has been said so many times, including by respondents to a global survey Devex did early this year: The best way to prevent diseases is to invest in building and strengthening health systems.

    Why, then, didn’t health policymakers make these investments to stop the spread of the disease, asked Devex readers.

    Universal health care advocates may need to readjust their focus, a reader named Legrino suggested.  

    “Preventing premature deaths and disease is demonstrably not the goal of UHC activists because if it were, they would advocate for tobacco taxes, environmental risk reduction like pollution of air, water, aflatoxin contaminated food and livestock, sugar, tobacco, indoor coal cooking,” Legrino wrote. “It is these things that generate most of the disease burden on the poor. Not absence of UHC.”

    Instead, health sector decision-makers should invest more in sanitation and areas that could prevent diseases, Legrino said. Other Devex readers agree with Legrino’s arguments about the need for responsible leadership and prioritizing prevention measures.

    Countries have invested in strengthening their health systems, but those investments have largely been made in response to concerns such as rapid population growth in the 1980s and the AIDS epidemic at the start of the century, others have argued.

    “Health system strengthening is not an emergency measure, nor is health and health systems in developing countries a mere agenda item in discussions of national security (in the U.S.) or population control,” Simon Collery noted.

    The spread of Ebola and other diseases could be prevented if development programs would tap science graduates more, Pramod Sharma argued.

    “Development programmes need to include science graduates and start small labs at the smallest administrative units to understand the dynamics of microorganisms at local level and control it,” Sharma wrote.

    What do you think is the best way to stop the spread of Ebola? Join the conversation by leaving a comment below.

    Join the Devex community and access more in-depth analysis, breaking news and business advice — and a host of other services — on international development, humanitarian aid and global health.

    • Global Health
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).
    The views in this opinion piece do not necessarily reflect Devex's editorial views.

    About the author

    • Ma. Eliza Villarino

      Ma. Eliza VillarinoDevexElizaJV

      Eliza is a veteran journalist focused on covering the most pressing issues and latest innovations in global health, humanitarian aid, sustainability, and development. A member of Mensa, Eliza has earned a master's degree in public affairs and bachelor's degree in political science from the University of the Philippines.

    Search for articles

    Related Jobs

    • Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Advisor
      United States | North America
    • STRIDES Senior Laboratory/Diagnostics Advisor
      United States | North America
    • Individual Consultant: Assessment of Healthcare Access for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health
      Bangkok, Thailand | Metropolitan Manila, Philippines | Bangladesh | Kazakhstan | Philippines | Thailand | Uzbekistan | Vanuatu | Viet Nam | Central Asia | East Asia and Pacific | South Asia
    • See more

    Most Read

    • 1
      Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
    • 2
      FCDO's top development contractors in 2024/25
    • 3
      Strengthening health systems by measuring what really matters
    • 4
      How AI-powered citizen science can be a catalyst for the SDGs
    • 5
      Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB

    Trending

    Financing for Development Conference

    The Trump Effect

    Newsletters

    Related Stories

    Global HealthUS delayed assistance to Uganda’s Ebola response

    US delayed assistance to Uganda’s Ebola response

    The Trump EffectHow the USAID funding freeze impacted the agency’s staff and partners

    How the USAID funding freeze impacted the agency’s staff and partners

    Sponsored by The Pandemic FundWhat it takes to close the gaps in pandemic preparedness

    What it takes to close the gaps in pandemic preparedness

    Accelerating ActionThe potential of city-level financing for NCDs

    The potential of city-level financing for NCDs

    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement