Congress Must View Ebola Threat as a National Security Issue and Provide full funding to fight Ebola on the home front and in Africa
The Constituency for Africa today called on Congress to ensure that as they take up funding request matters that they look comprehensively at US – Africa policy matters such as trade, and travel when considering funding of the President’s $6.2 billion special funding request. We must ensure that Congress designate funding directly to hospitals in both Africa and the US, as it is hospitals that are the front lines of the fight against Ebola.
“The hospitals across the country and on the continent that have been designated to treat Ebola are in urgent need of emergency assistance in order to effectively be prepared to contain the virus,” wrote Melvin Foote, President of the Constituency for Africa (CFA), and other business, health care and charitable leaders in a letter to U.S. Senate and House Appropriations Committee members.
As the Appropriations Committees consider President Obama’s request for $6.2 billion in special funding to fight Ebola, it is critical that hospitals receive the funding necessary to protect American communities from the deadly virus.
In West Africa, Ebola has stricken more than 13,000 people and has become a global public health crisis. In order to prevent a similar outcome in the United States, hospitals need appropriate financial resources to renovate, purchase costly equipment and conduct extensive staff training.
“We must fight Ebola on two fronts, at the epicenter of the disease in Africa, as well as at hospitals that are serving as the front lines here at home,” continued Foote. “This is a global issue that requires a coordinated effort—anything less will only create greater challenges down the road.”
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Existing appropriations are not adequate. The Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP), the primary federal program for hospital emergency preparedness, has been cut to bare bones, and the President’s FY 2015 budget requested no increase for the program.
Yet, the hospitals designated to treat Ebola are being asked to increase their readiness dramatically. The bill for one hospital dealing with Ebola can mount into the hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient, per day – draining crucial resources. For example, at New York’s Bellevue Hospital Center, where Doctors Without Borders physician Craig Spencer was treated for Ebola, the hospital spent $100,000 each day he was admitted on waste treatment and disposal alone. Adequate funding for hospitals is critical in order to provide quality and effective care for impacted patients.
“The bottom line is that we want to ensure that American communities are protected from Ebola,” Foote and the other letter signatories continued. “Public health has to be our No. 1 priority as a nation. Designated investment in our hospitals on the front lines is the key to preventing an Ebola outbreak in the United States. That’s why we urge Congress to provide funding well in excess of what the Administration has requested for hospitals to meet this new challenge.”
