NEW YORK – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Monday expressed concern by the recent restrictions put in place in several countries and localities to people who travelled the Ebola-affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Ban, in a statement issued in New York by his Spoekesman, Stephane DuJarric, said, he believed that those restrictions had put particular pressure on healthcare workers and those who had been on the frontline of the Ebola response.
“Returning health workers are exceptional people who are giving up themselves for humanity. They should not be subjected to restrictions that are not based on science.
“Those who develop infections should be supported, not stigmatised,” he said.
The UN chief reiterated that the best way for any country to protect itself from Ebola was to stop the outbreak at its source in West Africa.
This, Ban said, required considerable international healthcare worker support and in return for this support, we had an obligation to look after them
In another development, Dr Anthony Banbury, the head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) has wrapped up his visit to the three West African countries battling the Ebola outbreak.
The visit was part of the organisation’s ongoing efforts to drum up international support in tackling the deadly crisis.
This is contained in a statement from UNMEER, made available to UN Correswpondents in New York on Monday.
It stated that in the past one week, Banbury met with the presidents of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The meetings were part of a series of consultations focusing on how an operational framework for international efforts could be “adapted and implemented to best support the ongoing national responses.”
It added that, in addition to his consultations with the leaders, he also engaged in a series of meetings with national and international partners.
Banbury also visited health facilities under construction to hear and see first-hand how efforts to stop the Ebola virus were progressing.
The statement there was a recent high-level meeting of senior UN officials and external stakeholders from the World Bank, the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, the UN operational framework.
It said the meeting was designed to provide a UN response specific to the needs of each country while maintaining the centrality of national ownership.
It stated that the governments of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which had the final decision on the overall approach and strategy for dealing with Ebola in their respective countries, had national response plans in place and had been responding to the crisis for many months.
The statement saidb those governments had provided input and direction on the operational framework.
It added that Banbury’s meetings with presidents of Guinea, Alpha Condé, Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma and with Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, provided inputs and direction for the refining and updating of the operational framework of UN agencies, funds and programmes for the UN Ebola Crisis Managers in each country.
In Liberia, Banbury visited Tubmanburg, a town north-west of Monrovia, to see the Ebola treatment unit being built by the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) with the support of United States military.
He praised the dedication and speedy work of the AFL.
Banbury said the facility, which was nearing completion, would cater for medical staff expected to arrive to begin testing at the facility.
It also added that in his earlier visit to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, Banbury inspected the safe burials operations room for the city’s western district.
“All of what I discussed and saw from my talks with the leaders of each country and my visits to medical facilities being put in place for both Ebola victims and responders, to seeing the level of cooperation between national and international partners such as the AFL and the US military and the Sierra Leonean Government and AGI, leads me to believe that we are on right track.
“Time is of the essence and we need international support to be ramped up, from more medical supplies to more healthcare workers in all three countries.
“Only when Ebola is stopped, can the people of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone return to a life free from the fear of this deadly virus.,” Banbury was quoted as saying.