African lives matter too

WHAT would happen if Ebola were to spread in three poor African countries where Aids was already a serious problem and whose capacity to respond had been disrupted by warfare?

The answer may seem obvious, as this reads like a description of the 2014-15 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, but in fact, it was the problem considered by 800 tropical disease specialists who met in Honolulu in December 1989. The only significant difference between last year's reality and the scenario they envisaged in their role-playing exercise was that their Ebola virus could be transmitted by air as well as by bodily contact.

The specialists' goal was to see whether they could detect weaknesses in international response mechanisms and health systems that might be corrected in anticipation of such an emergency occurring for real. They were alarmed at the woeful lack of preparedness that the exercise revealed.