Philanthropist and billionaire, Bill Gates has said that the current Ebola outbreak could spread beyond West Africa.
According to Reuters, the Microsoft boss said yesterday, September 29 that it is not clear if enough is being done to contain the disease “given the risks that it will spread to countries beyond West Africa.”
Gates reportedly said this at a breakfast meeting sponsored by the newspaper Politico and Bank of America.
He also added that other countries “should get ready to handle a possible outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic fever in case it spreads further as people from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea move across borders.”
When asked if the recent influx of aid to the affected areas would make any difference, Gates said “Because of that uncertainty, I am not going to hazard a guess,”
The billionaire said further that countries with strong primary healthcare systems already in place are well positioned to halt the march of Ebola, as Nigeria and Senegal have demonstrated in their quick response to cases there.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made massive donations to the fight against Ebola and on September 10,pledged an additional $50 million towards efforts to combat the disease.
No comments:
Post a Comment