- Mark A. Rothstein is with the Institute for Bioethics, Health Policy and Law, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY. He is also a Department Editor for the American Journal of Public Health.
Abstract
The Ebola epidemic continues largely unabated in West Africa, and the first few cases have spread to the United States and Europe. Especially in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, Ebola poses an existential threat. The dread, despair, and death from Ebola are rampaging in these countries with their grossly inadequate health care and public health systems, precarious economies, and besieged governments. In these developing countries of West Africa, as well as in the developed countries where the infection has spread, Ebola poses a moral challenge to both individuals and societies. Foundational moral considerations should play a key role in public health decision-making to bring Ebola under control in an expeditious and just manner, as well as to prepare for the inevitable infectious disease outbreaks of the future.
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