Obama Warns World of Being Caught 'Flat-Footed' by Outbreaks

The White House(WASHINGTON) — Hosting health officials from 40 nations at the White House on Friday, President Obama delivered another call to action in the fight against Ebola, which he said has the potential to “impact everybody, every nation.”

“Oceans don’t protect you. Walls don’t protect you,” he said. “All of us need to do more to keep our people safe.”

The president warned that too many countries had announced commitments on helping to fight Ebola, but that there has not yet been enough “concrete action.”

Obama praised the government of Japan for its pledge of 500,000 pieces of ventilated protective gear for workers on the front lines in West Africa. He also issued a challenge to American manufacturers to develop new gear that will keep medical personnel cooler while working in intense hot.

“If you design them, we will make them and pay for them,” he said.

The president warned that recent outbreaks — from H1N1 and SARS to Mers and others — have revealed “unacceptable” weakness in global preparedness.

“Each time it’s been harder than it should be to share information and contain the outbreak. Each time, diseases spread faster and farther than they should have,” Obama said. “We have to make sure that we are not caught flat-footed.”


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