WHO Launches US 100 Million Joint Response Plan to Mitigate Ebola Virus Disease

It is currently ravaging countries like Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. So far the government of Sierra Leone has declared a state of emergency in the sector while the Liberia government has shut down public schools to prevent further spread of the disease.

But Director-General of WHO, Dr. Margret Chan and presidents of west African nations impacted by the Ebola virus disease outbreak will meet Friday(August 1, 2014) in Guinea to launch the joint US$ 100 million response plan as part of an intensified international and regional campaign to bring the outbreak under control.

“The scale of the Ebola outbreak, and the persistent threat it poses, requires WHO and Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take the response to a new level, and this will require increased resources, in-country medical expertise, regional preparedness and coordination,” says Chan, adding that the countries have identified what they need, and that WHO is reaching out to the international community to drive the response plan forward.”

According to WHO, the EVD Outbreak Response Plan in West Africa identifies the need for several hundred more personnel to be deployed in affected countries to supplement overstretched treatment facilities.

”Hundreds of international aid workers, as well as 120-plus WHO staff, are already supporting national and regional response efforts. But more are urgently required. Of greatest need are clinical doctors and nurses, epidemiologists, social mobilization experts, logisticians and data managers. The plan also outlines the need to increase preparedness systems in neighbouring nations and strengthen global capacities”, the agency has said.