Human security in practice: securing people from the threat of epidemic--what can we learn from the Ecowas response to Ebola?

A recent case count of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa published by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put the total number of deaths at 9 194 (CDC, Feb 12, 2015). Still counting, these figures will not be the last as the people of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone continue to battle the Ebola virus day by day. Until a community or a country spends 42 days (double the 21-day incubation period of the Ebola virus) without a new case and the last patient in isolation becomes laboratory negative, that country or community will not be declared Ebola-free (CDC 2015). The lessons learned from the Ebola epidemic are clear. An improvement of the regional response strategy is a sine qua non. There is a clear need to accelerate decision-making, and make it more proactive. This will entail the states yielding some powers to the technical institutions, such as the WAHO, and providing them with adequate funding.