Geneva: The Ebola outbreak had a ‘big head start’, WHO chief Tedros acknowledged, but insisted efforts to rein in the virus were in progress. “The outbreak had a big head start, and we’re still behind,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at the UN health agency’s headquarters in Geneva.” The remarks came a day after his return from the virus epicentre, the Ituri province in Democratic Republic of Congo.
After the ground visit Tedros had flagged regional insecurity, limited testing capacity, lagging contract tracing and mistrust among some of the population as major challenges faced by authorities to contain the deadly virus. Besides, no vaccine or approved treatments add up the pressure, he asserted.
He also highlighted the negative impact of blanket travel restrictions imposed by some countries. The ban according to the chief, is disrupting supply chains and hindering the response. Pressing to lift the ban, he suggested exit screening at the airports, ports and border crossing would do the needful check.
“Reining in the outbreak would instead centre on significantly bolstering and speeding up the response on the ground, including by decentralizing laboratory testing in Ebola hotspots, Tedros said.
Meanwhile, a wider plan and fundraising will be launched with other partners including the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the Congo and Uganda governments on Friday, an official from the body informed.
The world health body has flagged the outbreak as ‘ very high risk’ at national level, ‘high’ at the regional level and ‘low’ at ground level.
The Ebola virus has killed over 15,000 people over the past five decades. The current outbreak is the 17th to hit DRC and has confirmed over 344 cases and 60 deaths across three regions.15 cases, including one death, have been reported from neighboring Uganda, including a traveler who arrived from the UAE. At least 5 recovered from the rare strain, a sign of hope.
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