WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Sunday that the U.S. military will begin aiding what has been a chaotic and ineffective response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, arguing that it represents a national security concern.
The move ramps up the U.S. response. The decision to involve the military in providing equipment and other assistance for international health workers in Africa comes after mounting calls from some unlikely groups — most prominently the international medical organization Doctors Without Borders — demonstrating to the White House the urgency of the issue.
The epidemic, which has killed at least 2,100 people in five African countries, is unlikely to spread to the United States in the short term, Obama said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
But if the U.S. and other countries do not send needed equipment, public health workers and other supplies to the region, that situation could change and the virus could mutate to become more transmissible, he said.
“And then it could be a serious danger to the United States,” Obama said. “We’re going to have to get U.S. military assets just to set up, for example, isolation units and equipment there to provide security for public health workers surging from around the world.”
Even so, he warned that it would take months to control the epidemic.
Last week, leading international health officials said the window for getting the epidemic under control is closing. Doctors Without Borders, one of the groups most active since the outbreak began months ago, faulted world leaders with failing to recognize the severity of the crisis sooner and said charities and West African governments alone do not have the capacity to stem the epidemic.
The U.S. military, with its enormous logistical capacity and extensive air operations, could address gaps in the response quickly.
The medical group has long opposed military involvement by governments, but its international president, Joanne Liu, said the situation has become so desperate that it was now appealing for military assets to provide critical logistical and operational support.
