The recent Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks, respectively in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, and on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean, remind us that the next health crisis is never far away. They also illustrate the World Health Organization’s key role in global coordination and the importance of international cooperation for more effective responses.
The WHO declared the Ebola outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”, raising a global alert that the outbreak may require “a coordinated international response”. In the hantavirus case, it supported medical care, evacuations, and risk assessment, which, together with cooperation among numerous countries, have been crucial for implementing an effective response. Yet the very conditions that would allow for a timely and effective alert and response are eroding.
