Ebola: The American Army Aid Ineffective

Only 28 Ebola patients have been treated at the 11 treatment units built last year in Liberia by the U.S. military. Nine of the centers have never seen a single patient. 

Despite millions of dollars spent and nearly 3,000 U.S. troops deployed in the effort, it all came too late, the paper reported. Deploying the military cost $360 million, according to the report, not including the construction, staffing and operating expenses at the treatment centers it built.

“But even before the first treatment center built by the American military opened there, the number of Ebola cases in Liberia had fallen drastically, casting doubt on the American strategy of building facilities that took months to complete.”

Of the 11 centers the U.S. military built, all but one opened after Dec. 22. By then, Ebola cases had already fallen to the point that Liberian and foreign officials were discussing the closing of treatment units built by other organizations that were no longer needed, the paper reported.

“I knew that most of the ETUs that were being built may not receive a single patient,” Dr. Francis Kateh, who helped lead the response of the Liberian government, which decided with the Americans where to build the 11 centers, said “But at the same time, you couldn’t put a stop to that process,” he added. “The train was coming full force.”