On September 16th Barack Obama, the American president, said he would dispatch 3,000 troops and spend more than $750m to contain the epidemic. “We can’t dawdle on this one,” he declared. His move follows earlier, more modest, commitments from countries such as Cuba and China (each is sending about 170 people) and Britain, which will build a 62-bed hospital. Commitments from other countries look even more paltry. Germany will provide a few million dollars, the European Union is giving $15.5m (though it is giving 12 times that amount in general humanitarian aid) and three laboratories*. As The Economist went to press, the UN was due to debate a motion calling for more help.