Why Our World Would End If Ebola Does Not Disappear

By Kenneth Keme
The Global Health Security Agenda was launched in March 2014 and
shortly after, the Ebola virus hit West-Africa hard and the loss of lives was
unprecedented as this disease ravaged the sub-region, killing thousands
of people and with no known cure, this region was thrown into a quagmire
and other parts of the world, as this disease spread beyond West-Africa.
It rendered parents childless and rendered children orphans too. What
more? The nature of death was gruesome. But one major threat lurked; it
was the issue of bioterror and world security.
According to the WHO, the recent reports released on the Ebola epidemic
are staggering. A reported figure of over 23,000 cases was either
confirmed, probable or suspected and with well over 9,600 deaths from
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone which have been hard-hit by this virus.
In the wake of the growing insurgency in the West-African sub-region;
particularly Nigeria and with Boko Haram, it was important that measures
were taken to prevent this from turning into a major crisis and how
terrorists can develop biological weapons. As a result of this, the Ebola
epidemic brought to the fore, key issues which needed to be addressed
such as terrorism and biosecurity.
In Africa, terrorism is a new phenomenon; particularly West-Africa. Boko
Haram, which is an Islamic sect in Nigeria, is one of the few terrorist
groups in Africa and has gained enormous ground in recent years.
Another issue which is worthy of mention, is that of biological weapons.
This is a key issue in particular, because the Ebola virus can make a good
case for biosecurity.
This is where the Global Health Security Agenda has stepped up efforts to
curb the effects of infectious diseases by collaborating with nations and
organizations like the WHO, as the GHSA continues to highlight the
growing relationship between security and the ability of countries to
resolve health issues.
According to Biological Weapons Convention, there is a responsibility of
nations to prevent the non-proliferation of weapons in the world as the
Ebola epidemic shouldnt just been seen from a Humanitarian perspective
alone. This is

Furthermore, looking at Article VII of the BWC, parties also have to ensure
that other members are assisted when they are exposed to such
challenges. This is particularly evident in the role the United States has
played in its effort to combat the Ebola epidemic.

Regardless of the challenges that have come with the Ebola epidemic,
there has been success stories in countries like Nigeria. This should be by
no means, mean that the international community should rest on its oars.
Nevertheless, this only reflects that there is light at the end of the tunnel
and nations should unite until there is an achievement of zero number of
cases reported on Ebola.