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SALT LAKE CITY — The Ebola crisis in Africa is an opportunity for medical, economic and personal advancement on the continent and in the world, officials said.
"Our challenge is now to change that narrative from one of Africa being this horribly diseased and poor continent to one in which Africa is moving forward in a positive direction, helping to build a future for the next generation," Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, assistant secretary for the U.S. Bureau of African Affairs, said in an interview.
Thomas-Greenfield was among the current and former leaders who spoke on the state of the continent during the Africa's Future in the Global Economy summit at the University of Utah on Monday.
Mike Leavitt, former governor of Utah, said his time as secretary of Health and Human Services taught him the power of preparation.
"(Fighting Ebola) has to be a global effort because the globe is vulnerable to the extent of that of our weakest link," Leavitt said. "The problem is that anything that's said in advance of a pandemic seems alarmist."
There have been three pandemics in the past 100 years, he said, and countries unfortunately "become a bit complacent in our preparation in between, but when they strike, they're big events. They're world-changing events.'"
If not Ebola, Leavitt said, it will be some other catastrophe. Families need to prepare for a pandemic in the same way they would for an earthquake or bio-terrorism — by having adequate food and water storage and medicine.
To keep things in perspective, he noted that only one Ebola case in the U.S. can be tracked to Africa and an additional two tracked to their treatment of this patient.
"Our primary goal right now should be to contain this in Africa. … In Africa, this is poised to be a very serious problem. I don't think we've seen the worst of it yet," Leavitt said.
Daniel Bausch, head of the virology and emerging infections department in the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6 in Lima, Peru, seconded Leavitt's concern.
Our challenge is now to change that narrative from one of Africa being this horribly diseased and poor continent to one in which Africa is moving forward in a positive direction, helping to build a future for the next generation.
–Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, assistant secretary for the U.S. Bureau of African Affairs
"(West Africa) is where the fire is raging. That's where we need to act for their good, for our good as well," Bausch said.
In addition to the health impacts of Ebola, it has hit the historically poor countries of Guinea, Sierra Leon and Libera hardest, halting the progress they've made.
It is vital that the disease be contained, he said, because Africa lacks the resources to deal with the spread of the disease.
It could take months for the virus to be contained, Bausch said. There are, however, some positive elements to the outbreak.
"Obviously it's a humanitarian crisis that's playing out in West Africa, but if there's any silver lining it's that it is pushing through some of the therapeutics and vaccines and different things that have been somewhat stalled on the research level," he said.
Once this is accomplished, it will be important for other countries to look at how they can help the continent accomplish its long-term aims of rebuilding health care systems and government infrastructure.
Kirk Jowers, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics, said Africa "is about the most dynamic continent on Earth because of the opportunities and the challenges."
The purpose of the summit, which continues Tuesday, was for leaders and students to bring their new knowledge to their circles of influence, Jowers said.
One of these leaders was Christian Malanga, president of the United Congolese Party. Born in Congo but raised in the United States, Malanga is trying to apply what he has learned in the U.S. to his leadership in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"We people who are here in America, first-generation, we need to create a bridge to where we come from," he said.
Malanga gave an example of a young orphan in Africa he asked to draw him a picture of a house. She drew a hut with an outhouse and a goat outside. Back in Draper, he tasked his daughter, the same age as the orphan, with doing the same. She drew a garage, her father's bedroom, a hallway and theater room.
"The truth of the house remained the same: It's a shelter. But the opinion of the house is different. So how can we bridge those two different languages? What is the language barrier between those two states?" Malanga asked.
Africa is a land of opportunity, including for investment in agriculture, land and natural resources, Thomas-Greenfield said. Although the Ebola crisis "has dampened" some investors' interest, she said she believes they will return.
First, however, Africa needs to solve the Ebola, governmental infrastructure and transparency problems and give residents access to basic electricity, roads and clean water "if these countries are going to be in a place where they can respond to crises like this in the future," Thomas-Greenfield said. "Because this will not be the last such crisis to happen on the continent of Africa."
