Global Health

The Ebola Outbreak

Re “With Aid Doctors Gone, Ebola Fight Grows Harder” (Aug. 17):

If this disease affected the developed world, there almost certainly would be an effective drug on the market by now. It is shameful that there is not.

MICHJAS, of Phoenix, posted to nytimes.com

We can rescue stranded ethnic-minority Iraqis from a mountaintop. And we can give away millions of dollars of military equipment to our local towns and municipalities like Ferguson, Mo. But we cannot get proper equipment and personnel to West Africa?

SARAH, of State College, Pa., posted to nytimes.com

Nurses for Africa

TO THE EDITOR:

Re “Africa, With U.S. Help, Graduates More Doctors” (Global Health, Aug. 12): Nurses are at the heart of the health system in Africa. With United States support, Africa is also graduating more nurses and midwives. The Nursing Education Partnership Initiative, a sister program to the Medical Education Partnership Initiative, is transforming nursing education and H.I.V. care on the continent. With the nursing initiative’s support, more than 5,000 students from 19 African nursing schools have newly entered the work force.

When H.I.V.-positive patients seek care in Africa, they are far more likely to be treated by a nurse. Nurses will also deliver their babies, immunize their children and treat their ailments, whether Ebola, tuberculosis, malaria or cholera. Increased investment is needed: Graduating more nurses, training them better and ensuring they have the necessary support will enable them to remain at the front lines, caring for the most vulnerable.