British Airways, Arik Air, Asky Airlines, Gambia Bird, Senegal Airlines: Keep Flying to West Africa--End Ebola

The world’s two foremost leaders in public health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), agree that for West Africa to defeat Ebola and prevent it from spreading further, MORE flights, not fewer, are needed to the region. This view is shared by international experts on Ebola – such as Laurie Garret, Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations – and by regional bodies like the African Union and ECOWAS (The Economic Community of West African States).

Flight cancellations lead to shortages of urgently needed medical equipment, skyrocketing prices of basic necessities, and diminished prospects for economic recovery in Ebola-affected countries. Canceling flights makes it difficult for aid workers to enter and exit as needed. Organizations such as Doctors Without Borders cannot move staff and equipment in and out of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. Health ministers from these countries cannot meet to coordinate their own efforts. Flight cancellations truly make a bad situation worse.

Limiting flights increases uncertainty and unease among expats, fueling their exodus from the affected countries. This in turn adds to feelings of insecurity and unrest among the people of West Africa, who must remain through the difficulties while being abandoned by those whom they are expected to rely on for support. The affected countries went through years of horrific civil strife while the international community stood at the sidelines. The flight-cancellations have contributed to fears that history will repeat itself.

While we appreciate the fears this pandemic causes all around the world, we must reiterate that the WHO does not recommend a travel ban. WHO Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward argued that bans on travel and trade would not stop the spread of Ebola. Instead, they are "more likely to compromise the ability to respond.” According to the WHO’s analysis and experience, the risk of Ebola infection to airline staff and passengers is extremely low, especially in light of the precautions now being taken at all regional airports. The WHO has issued sufficient guidelines on exit screening.

This assessment is affirmed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). “Ebola is a terrible disease, but it is not easy to contract,” IATA’s vice president for Africa, Raphael Kuuchi, said recently at an aviation conference in Johannesburg. “It can only be caught through contact with bodily fluids. It is almost impossible to be infected by someone on a flight.