Obama: If World Doesn't Move Faster Could Be 1 Million Ebola Deaths

Thursday in New York City at an emergency meeting convened by the United Nations on the West African Ebola epidemic, President Barack Obama said more needs to be done faster to stop potentially millions from dying. 

“It is a marathon, but you have to run it like a sprint,” Obama said. “How quickly we can contain it is within our control. If we move fast, even imperfectly, that could mean the difference between 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 deaths versus hundreds of thousands or even a million deaths.”

“I want us to be clear. We are not moving fast enough. We are not doing enough. Right now everybody has the best of intentions, but people are not putting in the kinds of resources that are necessary to put a stopto this epidemic. There’s still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be. We know from experience that the response to an outbreak of this magnitude has to be fast and it has to be sustained. It is a marathon, but you have to run it like a sprint. And that’s only possible if everybody chips in. If every nation and every organization takes this seriously. Everybody here has to do more. International organizations have to move faster and cut through red tape and mobilize partners on the ground as only they can. More nations need to contribute critical assets and capabilities, whether air transport, medical equipment, or treatment.”

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