For Ebola, don't forget lessons from the AIDS epidemic

THE HILL                                                          Nov. 12, 2014
Commentary by Claire Pomeroy, M.D., M.B.A, President of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation.

...Without a commitment by Congress to fund basic medical research, the lives of millions are put at risk, along with the nation’s economic and national security. Outbreaks of deadly viruses – including AIDS or Ebola – have shown us the costs of not remaining vigilant.

  So how much funding is enough? It’s time for us to have that national conversation once again. We do not know what the superbugs of tomorrow will look like. But we do know that novel pathogens will emerge or existing ones will mutate, and that as global travel and migration inexorably increase, disease knows no border. It is time for us to stop chasing at AIDS and Ebola from behind, and take stock of our capacity to commit.

  Such conversations are never easy, particularly in a political environment in which cutting taxes and slashing the budget seem to be the only items up for discussion. But consider: Front-line doctors and nurses can now do little more than provide palliative care for patients with a distressingly fatal disease. People live in fear of contagion from their neighbor, and patients are stigmatized the moment they fall ill. We have been through this before. As we cope with the current crisis, let’s make sure that it does not happen again.
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http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/223687-for-ebola-dont-forget-lessons-from-the-aids-epidemic