About this episode

The episode discusses the current Ebola outbreak in Africa, its implications for global health policy, and the response from the US and WHO.

Africa once again has an Ebola outbreak. At this point, it is centered in the so-called Greak Lakes region, with the largest number of cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Uganda has also seen several cases. Sadly this is not new news. But it takes place in the context of a weakened World Health Organization, with the US withdrawal, and a stark memory of the Covid outbreaks. It also is exacerbated by the shuttering of USAID and severe cuts in health funding from the Trump Administration. The United States is insisting that any American that tests positive for the virus would be treated outside of the country, provoking protests in East Africa such as in Kenya. So is the Ebola outbreak a potential pandemic? What has been the most effective means to treat these kinds of outbreaks. And how does it influence the current intense discourses about health care delivery and wellness in the United States. [ dur: 58mins. ] Heather Wipfli is Professor and Clark Leadership Chair in Global Health at the University of Maryland. She is the co-author of Investigating global mental health: Contributions from political science and Network influences on policy implementation: Evidence from…

People in this episode

Guests: Heather Wipfli, Lawrence Gostin

Topics covered

• Ebola outbreak
• global health
• health policy
• infectious diseases
• healthcare delivery
• US health funding

Keywords

• Ebola
• pandemic
• healthcare
• WHO
• CDC
• Uganda
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• health funding
• USAID

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: World Health Organization, US CDC

Places: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, East Africa, Kenya

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