title: Disastrous events and political failures.
abstract: Response to the Ebola crisis (ongoing event) has been less than efficient. It has been monitored less than adequately by the international community and has been coordinated poorly in the USA. The event is used as a platform to examine deficiencies in public health infrastructure, the limits of its political and financial support, and how political outcomes can be affected. The need to tease out the political determinants implicit in policy failure and disaster management is argued in this Editorial. Failures mentioned include in the Balkans and in Greece with ongoing austerity. Comments on the real heroes of Ebola on the ground in Africa and the need for a charismatic role for political leaders in public health are also included.
authors.affiliation: National School of Public Health,Department of Health Service Management,Athens,Greece.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levett
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000458:organization & administration; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D014943:Global Health; D006291:Health Policy; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D011057:Politics; D015980:Public Health Practice
keywords: SARS severe acute respiratory syndrome; WADEM World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine; competences; global inequality; health diplomacy; public health