Urging Developed Nations

In West Africa, far fewer people are willing to shake hands with others and many more are reluctant to enter public areas. The region is stricken with uneasiness and fear. In the most devastating Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976, the West African region and the world beyond are in a state of panic. In just five months, the epidemic of the Ebola virus has killed nearly 2,000 people in West Africa.After hearing about this disease, which has killed 60 to 90 percent of those infected, many living in Western nations assumed that enough money could be quickly donated to stop the spread of Ebola. However, they soon realized that this was not the case. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 600 million dollars is needed to thwart the spread of Ebola. It took the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) five months, however, to donate only 21.3 million dollars. The amount of aid given by other Western nations was not impressive either, although such nations certainly have sufficient funds set aside to aid for "good causes." For example, the USAID’s total economic and military assistance in 2012 amounted to approximately 500 billion dollars, a relatively massive number compared to the meager 600 million needed to effectively halt the spread of Ebola. Why has West Africa not received sufficient aid to stop the outbreak of Ebola?Simply put, Western nations do not need to worry about being affected by the Ebola outbreak. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted in its description of the current outbreak, "[It] does not pose a significant risk to the United States." Of course, nations such as the U.S. or Britain have political and humanitarian responsibilities to help other countries in need, but these nations simply cannot be fear-mongered into providing great sums of aid.Ebola is highly infectious but relatively hard to contract because it is transmitted through bodily fluids. This means that the nations struggling to fight off Ebola will have a very hard time doing so without adequate aid, but also means that nations not in close proximity to the disease have no cause to worry. Despite the numerous Ebola outbreaks, the disease has never entered western countries with any concerning potencey. Realistically speaking, the only people at significant risk are those living in areas of dire poverty and poor sanitation.Even if a resident of a western country was to somehow contract the disease, recent events have shown that nations like the United States are very well equipped to treat those infected with Ebola. While a great portion of those infected in West Africa have died to the disease, two American doctors with the Ebola virus had very different results when they were treated in American hospitals. It did not take long for the two Americans to be back on their feet and going about their daily lives after treatment. Some say that this was because of a "top secret" experimental Ebola serum called ZMapp. The serum proved to be somewhat successful, but is not being widely produced or distributed because of its "experimental" nature. Many scientists have stated that the actual development of an Ebola serum would not be particularly difficult if they had the adequate funding to do so.Slowly, more scientists are beginning to speculate on the possibility of the Ebola virus undergoing mutations that may make it easier to transmit. These speculations may lead to more substantial aid for West Africa.Western nations do have the political and humanitarian responsibilities to help prevent Ebola virus from taking thousands of more innocent lives. Despite not being immediately affected by the outbreak, developed nations must, as they have in the past, give aid to nations in need. It is a duty of the privileged to help avoid unnecessary losses of life on a huge scale. 