Ebola outbreak a public health emergency: WHO
9 Aug 2014 12:38 AM GMT
It is the largest and longest outbreak ever recorded of Ebola, which has a death rate of about 50 per cent and has so far killed at least 932 people. WHO declared similar emergencies for the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for polio in May.
The WHO chief, Dr Margaret Chan, said the announcement is ‘a clear call for international solidarity’ although she acknowledged that many countries would probably not have any Ebola cases.
‘Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own,’ Chan said at a news conference in Geneva. ‘I urge the international community to provide this support on the most urgent basis possible.’
The agency had convened an expert committee this week to assess the severity of the continuing epidemic.
The current outbreak of Ebola began in Guinea in March and has since spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia, with a suspected cluster in Nigeria. There is no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola.
The impact of the WHO declaration is unclear; the declaration about polio doesn’t yet seem to have slowed the spread of virus.
‘Statements won’t save lives,’ said Dr Bart Janssens, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders. ‘For weeks, (we) have been repeating that a massive medical, epidemiological and public health response is desperately needed. ... Lives are being lost because the response is too slow.’
In the United States, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention have already elevated their Ebola response to the highest level and have recommended against travelling to West Africa. On Thursday, CDC director Dr Tom Frieden told a Congressional hearing that the current outbreak is set to sicken more people than all previous outbreaks of the disease combined.
The WHO chief, Dr Margaret Chan, said the announcement is ‘a clear call for international solidarity’ although she acknowledged that many countries would probably not have any Ebola cases.
‘Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own,’ Chan said at a news conference in Geneva. ‘I urge the international community to provide this support on the most urgent basis possible.’
The agency had convened an expert committee this week to assess the severity of the continuing epidemic.
The current outbreak of Ebola began in Guinea in March and has since spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia, with a suspected cluster in Nigeria. There is no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola.
The impact of the WHO declaration is unclear; the declaration about polio doesn’t yet seem to have slowed the spread of virus.
‘Statements won’t save lives,’ said Dr Bart Janssens, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders. ‘For weeks, (we) have been repeating that a massive medical, epidemiological and public health response is desperately needed. ... Lives are being lost because the response is too slow.’
In the United States, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention have already elevated their Ebola response to the highest level and have recommended against travelling to West Africa. On Thursday, CDC director Dr Tom Frieden told a Congressional hearing that the current outbreak is set to sicken more people than all previous outbreaks of the disease combined.
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