Africa needs to improve its infrastructure along with its public health policies in order to prevent Ebola outbreaks in the future, a Harvard professor said.

The disease is medical, but its spread has brought to light the major weaknesses in Africa's infrastructure and poor health care, says Calestous Juma, Practice of International Development Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

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Infrastructure and health care are linked, Juma said. 

He adds that if the infrastructure of a community is well developed, it can almost always assure that the community has good sanitation which is the foundation of a good public health that will pave way for prevention of diseases.

Bats, the number one known carriers of the Ebola virus, are speculated to have dispersed to the infected regions due to deforestation brought about by urbanization.

Africa is undergoing a rapid urbanization process, and experts implore that proper research be made to ascertain that progress will not pose a threat to the health of its citizens.

Agricultural research has been a main concern of the African government, but the recent outbreak seemed to have urged the government to shift gears and focus on biomedical research instead.

Africa is already working on strengthening its heath systems, though there is still much work to be done.

However, the country's health innovation plan is being hampered by insufficient funding and lack of political attention.

Political attention is imperative in making certain that a country's public health is well taken care of, according to Juma. It is something that Africa is in need of to answer growing public concern about the ongoing outbreak.

Juma says if public health concern and research will have enough political attention, it will help in the advancement of health related issues through training and infrastructure development.

"The Ebola outbreak is not an episode; it is a wake-up call for strategic political action," the Harvard professor said.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has led the WHO to declare it as a global health emergency.

TagsAfrica, otbreak