NEW YORK – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday called for a “robust and united effort” to stop the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease.
Declaring open a high-level event on Ebola in New York, Ban said that this crisis has highlighted the need to strengthen early identification systems and early action.
Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia and Mr Ernest Bai Koroma, President of the Sierra Leone, are attending the event.
“We should consider whether the world needs a standby corps of medical professionals, backed by the expertise of WHO and the logistic capacity of the UN.
“Ebola is raging. It kills more than 200 people a day, two thirds of them women. In spite of the valiant efforts of local communities, health systems are buckling under the strain.
“Many have tried to shut out the virus by closing their borders. Several airlines have stopped serving the three countries. The number of ships docking at their ports has dwindled,” he said.
According to him , such an approach only makes the situation worse, isolating countries when they need help most.
Ban however said there are some encouraging news to report.
“In some treatment centres, patients are receiving the care they need. In several locations, community-based programmes are yielding promising results.
“I want to pay special tribute to the health workers on the frontlines. More than 300 have died after being exposed to the virus.
“At great personal risk, numerous national, regional and international organisations, civil society groups and NGOS such as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and Médecins Sans Frontières are making vital contributions, providing safe burials and providing patients with dignified care,” he added.
Ban said that dozens of countries and organisations, too many to mention by name, are making life-saving contrib utions, and I thank all of them for their generous support.
“ But even these are falling significantly short of the twenty-fold surge that is required.
“ There is overwhelming international political momentum for the UN to play a leading role in coordinating the response.
“We will play this role and meet this challenge,” he said.
[eap_ad_2] Ban assured that the UN staff were eager to help.
“ Within 24 hours of a call for staff to deploy, we received 4,000 applications. Some staff are preparing to depart over the weekend.
“The entire UN system is mobilised, including the WHO under the leadership of Dr Margaret Chan, and the World Bank under the leadership of President Jim Yong Kim,” Ban told the gathering of world leaders.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia, as well as all agencies, funds and programmes in the affected region, he said, have been providing assistance for months.
The UN response will be spearheaded by the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, or UNMEER, which will be led by my Special Representative, Anthony Banbury.
UNMEER advance teams, he said, have been deployed to the mission headquarters in Ghana and to the three most affected countries.
One core responsibility will be to support prevention efforts throughout the region,he said.
He also said that Dr David Nabarro will continue to provide strategic guidance as my Special Envoy, and as part of a Global Ebola Response Coalition. (NAN)
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