A Birds Eye View I know that it’s election season, but there must be some issues that we don’t turn into politics as usual. When we reduce issues to simple political fodder, we shift our focus to winning political points rather than actually solving the problem at hand. And yet that’s exactly what leaders in both parties have done with the issue of tackling the current Ebola outbreak. But we can’t leave important logistical and medical decisions to partisan politics. Our leaders in Washington need to put politics aside, something that they’ve proven that they are unable (or unwilling) to do in the past, and make the best decisions for the public health of the nation. Our very own Senator Ron Johnson came up with some elaborate scheme in which members of the Islamic State purposefully infect themselves with Ebola and then travel to the United States. That theory does two things, neither of which are useful or productive. First, it combines the two “biggest” threats of the season, cable news networks have turned ISIS and Ebola into the latest threat fads. Second, it gives the Republicans a reason to try and impose a travel ban (against the advice of leading officials and experts, but we’ll get to that) on incoming planes from West Africa. What it does not do is seriously discuss how we can contain and fight the current outbreak. However, don’t think that President Obama isn’t doing his darnndest to win the war against common sense being waged in Washington. Last week, he appointed a “czar” to coordinate the nation’s response to Ebola. That seems reasonable, until you realize that Ron Klain, the new Ebola “czar,” has no background in epidemics or medicine. He does, however, have an extensive background in being a Democrat. So with the Congressional Republicans and President Obama once again doing battle to see who can come up with the worse idea, here we are without an actual plan to deal with Ebola. So here’s the plan: take a breath (don’t worry, Ebola isn’t an airborne pathogen). With the news stations whipping us up in a frenzy, we need to first put the actual threat that Ebola poses into perspective, something that is in woefully short supply in Washington. Sure, Ebola does nasty things to those who get it, but you’re much more likely to die from the flu than from Ebola. The flu kills thousands of Americans each year, Ebola has only killed one so far during this outbreak. In addition, unlike the flu, you can only catch Ebola by coming in direct contact with the bodily fluids of someone else who has Ebola. That being said, the nation’s foremost agency whose job it is to protect us from infectious diseases, the Center for Disease Control, had plenty of time to prepare for Ebola crossing the ocean into the United States and was still unprepared. CDC Director Tom Frieden was quoted as saying, “we can stop Ebola in its tracks.” And yet one of the nurses who treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the nation’s first fatality from Ebola, was allowed to fly to Ohio. By no means am I an expert in epidemics, or medicine, but that seems like a poor choice. With that said, they are called the Center for Disease Control for a reason. They’re quick learners, and there’s no reason to think that they can’t do their jobs. And then there’s the travel ban. Governor/future presidential candidate Scott Walker joined in the chorus of misguided Republicans advocating for the ban last week. A travel ban, according to the leading experts about this kind of stuff, would drive Ebola patients into the shadows, which would make it considerably harder to control the current outbreak. Any policy that makes it harder for the CDC to do its job should be immediately thrown out. The ban would make it more difficult for the CDC to track the virus’ movement. So while we might feel safer, we’ll actually be less safe. Rather than blaring the fear siren and formulating terrifying fairytales *cough, cough, Senator Johnson*, our leaders should be carefully considering an action plan that will work. They should also be discarding plans that won’t work, the travel ban for example. Most importantly they should shut up and listen to experts for once rather than turning this current situation into yet another political opportunity.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 19:43:56 +0000
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