The president of the World Bank on Friday called the doctor who just returned from Guinea, didn’t quarantine himself but socialized in New York before showing signs of Ebola, a “hero” for helping out in West Africa.
Pushing back on stories that Dr. Craig Spencer jeopardized the health of those he came in touch with in New York, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said, “Dr. Spencer is a hero. He is doing exactly what’s needed to bring the epidemic to an end.”
Kim, briefing reporters at a media breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, said that the Ebola crisis is still spinning out control, in part because there is a desperate lack of healthcare workers like Spencer.
A physician and anthropologist, Kim said, “Dr. Spencer understood this epidemic. He understood that the only way to protect Americans … was to treat, in his case, Guineans.”
He said that Spencer’s story should inspire other humanitarian doctors to fly into Western Africa for the Ebola fight. What’s more, he said of Spencer, “I would not at all be surprised if he goes back.”
Kim said that Spencer, working with Doctors Without Borders, “did the one thing that we need to do,” which is get more healthcare helpers to the three Ebola nations, including Guinea.
“We need to have experience health workers,” said Kim. But, he added, “It is still not clear where the health workers are going to come from.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that healthcare workers have abandoned hospitals and medical centers in areas where the virus has hit.
Kim said “we need thousands and thousands” of helpers in the region, including surrounding countries that are quickly setting up an Ebola campaign to make sure it doesn’t cross borders.
Without more manpower — and fast — said Kim, the virus won’t be stopped.
“The epidemic is still growing … we know it is still growing,” he told the reporters. Kim said that there are “still parts of the three countries where it is spreading quickly.”
So far, the World Bank Ebola response includes mobilizing a $400 million financing package for the impacted countries. Some $117 million has already been sent: $58 million for Liberia, $34 million for Sierra Leone and $25 million for Guinea.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
