The Ebola crisis prompts some health care workers to call for a NATO-like rapid reaction force to tackle outbreaks

Six months ago, the Canadian doctor who is the International President of MSF had already identified Ebola's devastating potential but could get no traction from the World Health Organization or other health leaders on rapid action when Ebola first sprang up. Now the hemorrhagic fever has the world's attention underlining how unprepared we all are for such a public health crisis.

• Ebola cases could reach 10,000 per week in 2 months: WHO -- The Associated Press

This was an avoidable crisis. If the national authorities and the international community would have acted from the beginning, or let's say the latest in June or so, we would not have had thousands of deaths and a situation that's getting really out of control. But that hasn't happened. Dr. Peter Piot, discovered Ebola virus

The man who helped discover the Ebola virus is unimpressed with the way the world has reacted to the latest outbreak. Dr. Peter Piot has studied and treated Ebola patients since 1976.

Yesterday Health Minister Rona Ambrose announced the start of clinical trials on a Canadian Ebola vaccine. Public health officials from across the country will be on a teleconference today to consider strengthening Canada wide strategies on Ebola. This after a new case in Dallas. And there have been a number of suspected cases in Canada but none has proved to be Ebola.

More than 8,000 people in seven nations have felt the terrible grip of Ebola infection. More than 4,000 have died. It's believed the number of cases doubles every three or four weeks.

The World Heath Organization now calls this outbreak the "most severe acute health emergency in modern times". David Nabarro, the United Nations envoy on Ebola, says the response to the crisis needs to be 20 times greater than it was at the beginning of this month.

Because without that mass mobilization, without a global movement, it will be impossible to get this disease quickly under control and the world will have to live with the Ebola virus forever.David Nabarro, United Nations envoy on Ebola

The UN says nearly a Billion dollars is needed to fight this scourge, and so far, less than a third of that money has been received. Medecins Sans Frontieres is the main international non-governmental organization leading the fight against the West African outbreak. MSF was among the first to sound the alarm about the need for extra resources.

• Dr. Joanne Liu is a Canadian doctor and the International President of MSF. She was in Geneva.

• Jack Chow argues the world needs a NATO-like rapid-reaction medical force to face crises like the Ebola outbreak. He was WHO''s first Assistant Director-General on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Jack Chow was also the U.S. Ambassador for Public Health. He now teaches public health at Carnegie Mellon University.

• Dr. Richard J. Brennan is the Director of Emergency Risk Management and Humanitarian Response at the World Health Organization. He was in Geneva.

What do you think? Has the response been quick enough? Would you like to see a NATO-like rapid response force?

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This segment was produced by The Current's Gord Westmacott and Sujata Berry.