Under blue Beijing skies November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit 2014 made a firm statement in the fight against the Ebola epidemic. The deadly disease was one of the central topics President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama discussed during their bilateral talks on the sidelines of the APEC Informal Leaders' Meeting.

While the United States and China may have differing responses to Ebola, one being more militarily and security-minded and the other an act of solidarity with developing countries, there is no doubting the seriousness with which they acknowledge the epidemic in their role as the world's most powerful economies.

Xi told a press conference that APEC leaders would make joint efforts to help African countries become more capable to effectively cope with and control the epidemic. APEC economies also pledged their support for the UN's leading role in assisting Africa to combat the outbreak of the disease.

The declaration by the UN Security Council in September that Ebola was threatening global security has clearly not gone unnoticed by APEC. In a world where all is connected in some way, shape or form, APEC is fully aware that disease outbreaks in Africa could easily spread to Asia. Africa's vast reservoir of natural resources is inextricably linked to APEC, the world's largest regional economic group which accounts for more than a third of the world's population and half of global trade, and Ebola has the power to affect this symbiotic relationship.

While the World Health Organization (WHO), UN and the global community are beginning to come on board and ramp up their support, what is required in the West African epidemic areas is medical professionals capable of providing care and dispensing preventative medicine for the support to be sustainable and long lasting. Medical infrastructure which can be utilized to train personnel who remain behind in the areas affected after volunteers leave is a dire necessity.

In late October, the WHO reported almost 5,000 deaths from the deadly virus, with confirmed cases continuing to increase exponentially in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The situation in these countries remains of great concern. Mali also had two confirmed cases of Ebola. The WHO has said some of the key lessons learned to control the outbreak include the importance of leadership and community engagement. At APEC the leadership demonstrated the understanding and acknowledgment that without a combined international effort, the Ebola epidemic has the spreadability to turn the global village, and notably the large populations of APEC, into a potential disease danger zone. 

THE EDITOR