Africa faces a bigger threat than Ebola
LONDON — Mystery diseases inspire a special terror in the West. Buried in our psyche lies the idea a new Black Death will appear one day, shattering the medical protection we have built over the years. Horror films are made about killer viruses but even they look mild compared with some of the hysteria emanating from governments.
A few years ago, the British Department of Health warned that another pandemic was “inevitable” and predicted up to 750,000 deaths in the United Kingdom alone. We are, apparently, just waiting for the next big virus to strike.
Perhaps this explains the panicky reaction to Ebola. It’s hardly a new disease, having emerged (and been defeated) several times before — but it has never been as big as it is now. It’s certainly gruesome, killing seven in 10 people it infects. There are 4,500 dead so far and there are fears there could be 10,000 new infections a week by the end of the year.
But the disease has affected just five of Africa’s 53 countries, and in two of them — Nigeria and Senegal — its progress seems to have been halted.
A sense of proportion tends to be the first casualty of any new virus. The most recent viruses to emerge have caused much panic and disruption, but proved far less deadly than, for example, measles. The worldwide death toll for the SARS virus was 770, and the H5N1 bird flu claimed 390 lives. These scares cost tens of billions of dollars of economic damage worldwide because of the inevitable disruption they cause. But the fatalities have not been as great as for conditions such as drug addiction or heart disease.
The panic in the United States is becoming a case study in misplaced anger. U.S. President Barack Obama is faulted for failing to set up an airport test that could have intercepted the Ebola victim being blamed for bringing the virus to the country. No safety net can be so tight as to catch everyone. But where is the anger about the 40,000 Americans who die each year from preventable conditions such as whooping cough and measles?
Even the concern about Africa seems to be at odds with the threats facing the continent. Since Ebola emerged seven months ago it has claimed thousands of lives in Africa. But over the same period, 40 times as many people will have died from hunger and 70 times as many will have been killed by malaria. So where is the anger about this?
Africans dying from malaria should cause more outrage than Ebola — given that we know how to overcome malaria. Basic tools such as insecticides, mosquito nets and sanitation can eradicate the disease.
The root problem is a basic one: poverty. The countries now battling Ebola — Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia — are among the poorest in the world with a pitiful health infrastructure. Foreign aid can help if it encourages a health service.
One of the greatest stories of the past decade is the extraordinary economic growth of sub-Saharan Africa — and how this is translating into poverty reduction, cutting death rates from everyday diseases. Child mortality is falling at the fastest rate in history. Malaria, too, is in fast decline as ordinary Africans can afford protection, rather than wait to have it handed out by an aid agency. Deaths from measles are down by 80 per cent over the past 10 years. HIV infections are down by a third over the same period.
Steadily, Africans are closing the gap with the rich world. Blessed with oil and minerals the continent is becoming richer. The result is a golden age of poverty reduction.
Not all of the continent is growing at the same pace, which explains why Ebola has moved so quickly in countries which have nothing resembling a decent health-care system. But their story is not Africa’s story. The Ebola tragedy is a setback in a greater war against disease and poverty — but it is a war that Africans are steadily winning.