The World Bank and the Ebola Crisis

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The World Bank and Its Role in the Ebola Crisis Over the past several months, an outbreak of Ebola virus diease has devastated West Africa. Several countries have paid a high price, in terms of both lives lost and economic impact. Due to the lack of financial resources common throughout most of Africa, the region is ill equipped to mount a quick, effective response to this outbreak. The World Bank, which has recently announced and implemented a finance package to assist the affected countries, is uniquely capable of assisting the region. The World Bank was established in 1944, and has a twofold mission: to “end poverty, and boost shared prosperity.” (http://www.worldbank.org/en/about). The World Bank has aimed to accomplish these goals through the International Development Association (IDA), one several entities under the World Bank. The IDA funds programs that generate economic growth and improve the basic living conditions of the world’s poorest countries; 39 of 77 of which are in Africa (http://www.worldbank.org/ida/what-is-ida.html). Of the aforementioned countries, three have suffered the highest casualties of the current Ebola virus diseaseoutbreak: Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Combined with a minority of cases in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, 5,843 people have contracted Ebola hemorrhagic fever, resulting in 2,803 deaths (http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/ebola-6-months/en/). The Ebola virus is highly contagious and has a high mortality rate, usually around 50 percent, but areas struck by previous outbreaks of the disease have experienced mortality rates as high as 90 percent (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/). Without delving further into the medical or biological data regarding the virus, it is suffice to say that this virus has the potential to cause a worldwide pandemic. It is therefore imperative

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