US says Americans with Ebola will be sent to Kenya for treatment
As the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to grow, the Trump administration says it is focused on keeping the disease out of the United States.
"We cannot and will not allow any case of Ebola to enter the United States," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a cabinet meeting this Wednesday (27).
The U.S. "is setting up a state-of-the-art facility" in Kenya for Americans who need treatment for Ebola, a Trump administration official said Wednesday.
"The facility was designed to provide access to high-quality care for Americans who would need to quickly exit the DRC and quarantine without the risks of a long transport back to the US," the official said.
"Time is of the essence for Ebola patients, and this facility will allow Americans in the region who contract Ebola to receive life-saving care as quickly as possible, without more than a 12-hour medical evacuation flight," they said.
"The facility's treatment capacity is expected to be sufficient to address the full spectrum of Ebola virus disease, including critical care needs, although each case will be evaluated for transfer to more advanced treatment as appropriate in order to maximize patient outcomes," the official said.
They said the facility was being set up "through a coordinated effort" with the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Pentagon.
"Terrible consequences"
However, the US has its own specialized network of hospitals highly equipped to treat Ebola patients, which some experts say would be much better utilized.
Jeremy Konyndyk, who was director of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa between 2014 and 2016, noted that "the U.S. has invested for years and continues to invest in an entire network of highly capable Ebola isolation and treatment facilities."
"Instead of relying on the capabilities we've built here, we're sending these people literally everywhere else," said Konyndyk, current president of the humanitarian organization Refugees International.
"One of the things that I find viscerally offensive about the administration's stance right now is that they're saying, basically, if an American gets infected, we can't support them; they're not welcome in their own country," he told CNN.
Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease expert and former medical director of Sierra Leone's Ebola Treatment Center, called the new plan "insane."
It will have "terrible consequences", she wrote in a post on the social network X this Wednesday.
Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, said the outcomes will be worse for both patients and aid workers.
The plan is "reckless, unethical and possibly illegal," he wrote in an X post.
Earlier this month, an American doctor working in the Democratic Republic of Congo who tested positive for the Ebola virus was sent to Germany for treatment, and another, at high risk of exposure, was sent to Czechia.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Kenya's Ministry of Health noted that "discussions are ongoing with the US government and other global partners on international collaboration to strengthen preparedness and response mechanisms for Ebola virus disease and other emerging public health threats."
"Any agreements regarding international health cooperation will be guided by Kenya's national laws, public health regulations, biosafety and biosecurity standards, and the Government's primary responsibility to safeguard the health and well-being of the Kenyan people," the statement said.
"The protection of Kenyan citizens, frontline healthcare workers and communities remains paramount," the document added.
It is unclear whether the facility being built in Kenya will also accept people of other nationalities, leaving some residents apprehensive about the plan.
"Why do Americans think their lives are so much more important than the lives of Kenyans that they create a facility in Kenya exclusively for Americans?" Robert Kiberenge, a resident of Nairobi, asked Reuters.
"If they are allowed to open this facility here, it should serve all Kenyans, both Kenyans and Americans, and not be restricted to quarantining Americans only," Kiberenge said.
Group urges US diplomats to leave countries amid Ebola outbreak
Source: CNN