The Relation Between Ebola & Extreme Poverty Goes Both Ways — Factpod #9

I am currently working full-time as Advisor on Ebola Epidemiology at the Ministry of Health in Liberia http://www.mohsw.gov.lr/.

In this short video I explain why I decided to go here. Why it's so important to bring Ebola down to zero. Ebola causes the same extreme poverty that causes it's spread. Therefor it can bring West Africa into a Vicious Spiral that eventually will make the whole world a far more dangerous place.

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PRODUCER: Mattias Högberg

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I'm professor Hans Rosling.

I'm standing on the roof of my hotel
in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.

Now it's a peaceful city, but just
a little more than 10 years ago

ended a cruel civil war here.

After that, the economy
of the country was broken,

health services and schools were down;

but now, in the last ten years,
things had been improving:

there were a fast economic growth,

people were coming out of extreme poverty,

and health was improving.

Ebola put a stop to that.

The relation between extreme poverty
and Ebola go both ways.

Extreme poverty was a major reason

to why the outbreak of Ebola
became so huge here:

people live so crammed in the slum here,

they don't have water and sanitation.

When someone started
to vomit and got sick,

the whole family got infected!

And now, when Ebola is here,

it stops businesses,
economy comes to a standstill,

people lose their job
and poverty gets worse!

So, in order for Liberia
to fight the extreme poverty,

they must start by fighting Ebola.

And when Ebola is gone
- because it has to go down to zero -

the best way to prevent
Ebola from coming back

is to fight and put an end
to extreme poverty.

Now, for the rest of us,
living in other parts of the world,

at better economic levels,
we also have a reason to fight Ebola,

because it is a global security reason
of immense proportions!

And I have grandchildren:
I don't want them to live in a world

where Ebola virus
travels around the world.

So how could I stop it?

There's no better way of stopping Ebola
than come here in West Africa,

and fight it side by side
by the people in these countries.

And my experience here
in Liberia is very positive:

there's a fantastic response
against Ebola among the professionals,

the government, and especially
the people themselves.