EbolaWHO missed several opportunities last spring to prevent outbreak from spreading

Published 21 October 2014

The global response to the Ebola epidemic has been slow and inadequate, according to aid organizations and governments in West Africa. The World Health Organization(WHO), the United Nationsagency tasked with coordinating international response to disease outbreaks, missed opportunities to prevent the disease from spreading when it was first diagnosed last spring, according to a draft internal WHO report.

The global response to the Ebola epidemic has been slow and inadequate, according to aid organizations and governments in West Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations agency tasked with coordinating international response to disease outbreaks, missed opportunities to prevent the disease from spreading when it was first diagnosed last spring, according to a draft internal WHO report obtained by the AP. “Nearly everyone involved in the outbreak response failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall,” the WHO said in the document. “A perfect storm was brewing, ready to burst open in full force.”

Dr. Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who helped identify the Ebola virus in 1976, said the WHO acted too slowly. “It’s the regional office in Africa that’s the front line,” said Piot. “And they didn’t do anything. That office is really not competent.” So far, the Ebola outbreak has claimed roughly 4,500 lives out of 8,914 recorded cases but officials believe hundreds or thousands of infected West Africans are not reporting the sickness.

The Guardian reports that British prime minister David Cameron has called for fellow European leaders to double their financial contribution for fighting Ebola. The United Kingdom has committed 125 million pounds and Cameron is hoping for a total of 800 million pounds from European nations. International aid agency Oxfam has asked European foreign ministers to send troops, medical staff, and funding to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia- the countries most affected by the epidemic.

Responding to calls to impose travel bans on flights from West Africa, President Barack Obama told Americans on Saturday, “we can’t cut ourselves off from west Africa,” as it would make it harder to move health workers into the region. “Trying to seal off an entire region of the world — if that were even possible — could actually make the situation worse,” he said. World Bank president Jim Yong Kim warns that government officials were much too focused on securing their own borders. “I still don’t think that the world has understood what the possible downside risk is – not just to the west African economy, but to the global economy. And we are still losing the battle,” he said.