In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on August 4, Columbia Mailman School’s Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, John Snow Professor of Epidemiology and director of the Center for Infection and Immunity, clarifies the risks of diminished funding for the agencies charged with improving global health such as NIH, the CDC, and WHO, and calls for elected officials, policymakers, and philanthropists to do much more to respond to outbreaks — such as ebola — than assess and re-assess budgets.

In writing the article “Ebola: How Worried Should We Be”, Dr. Lipkin makes the point that while the ebola outbreak is a formidable challenge, the virus does not pose the risks of a pandemic influenza, SARS, or MERS nor does it warrant wide-scale vaccine campaigns. However, staff and supplies are urgently needed for patient care and infection control in the countries most affected.

Read the article: Ebola: How Worried Should We Be?