Ebola spending: will lack of a positive legacy turn dollars to dolour?

Millions were invested in west Africa to tackle the Ebola crisis, but some experts doubt there will be any lasting benefits for public health systems

While it is still too early to call time on the Ebola outbreak, a sense that the worst may have passed is tentatively taking root in west Africa, alongside an acute realisation of the need to ensure a positive long-term legacy for battered healthcare systems.

The international community might have taken too long to react initially but the arrival of hundreds of soldiers and volunteer health workers, backed up by millions of dollars from donors, stopped the crisis from becoming even worse. A dire forecast of a possible 10,000 cases a week, for example, was never realised.

History teaches us that when these immediate emergencies are over, everybody disappears and the money dries up

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