No one now doubts that the Ebola crisis is the most severe acute public health emergency in modern times. It is a matter of opinion, whether among Forum members or so-called experts, just how bad this epidemic will become, and how to respond – to bring it under control.


• A travel ban on everybody from the affected African countries – quarantine in other words – would be hard to enforce. Borders are " permeable " – people would " escape " and pay bribes to do so. If the virus conquered West Africa unchecked, more untraceable emigrants would carry it inside their bodies. When the epidemic spread, could Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and the entire African continent be quarantined ? What if the virus travelled on to India, with its slums and poor healthcare, or China, where infection control in hospitals may be substandard ?


• The brave volunteer health care workers from other countries including Cuba and Medecins Sans Frontieres - who are so desperately needed - deserve to be cared for and if necessary flown out if they get ill. More treatment centres, with the necessary resources to build them, and healthcare staff to run them, are urgently needed.


• Ebola is not just a public health emergency – it infects everything ! In West Africa, children are orphaned, people stay away from fields and market places, businesses close, and there’s a risk of hunger.


• Errors will continue to occur in this uncharted territory. An outbreak of litigation is being predicted. Care workers and hospitals have a duty of care, not only to infected patients but also to protect those treating and working with the patients and other members of the public.


• I’m optimistic that outbreaks CAN be contained in countries such as the UK, with robust medical systems and the ability to trace contacts, and that in future effective vaccine(s) and drugs will become available. I would have less optimism – but not " zero faith " - in the ability to cope in countries such as the Philippines.


However, as I have said already – I don’t claim expertise and can’t predict with certainty the eventual outcome of this war on Ebola.