HEALTH-EBOLA/GHANA UN Fighting Ebola must be 'based on science', not hysteria says U.N
Record ID:
708186
HEALTH-EBOLA/GHANA UN Fighting Ebola must be 'based on science', not hysteria says U.N
- Title: HEALTH-EBOLA/GHANA UN Fighting Ebola must be 'based on science', not hysteria says U.N
- Date: 29th October 2014
- Summary: ACCRA, GHANA (OCTOBER 28, 2014) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) AID PLANE PARKED AT KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT VARIOUS OF U.N. CREW STANDING NEAR PLANE VARIOUS OF GLOBECOMM SATELLITE ON BACK OF TRUCK SATELLITE READY TO BE AIR LIFTED VARIOUS OF SATELLITE BEING LOADED ONTO PLANE ACCRA, GHANA (OCTOBER 27, 2014) (REUTERS) HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) EBOLA MISSION (UNMEER), ANTHONY BANBURY, WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) EBOLA MISSION (UNMEER), ANTHONY BANBURY, SAYING: "What I will say is that decisions should be based on science and facts and not hyper hysteria and decisions should be taken in a way that will promote the most rapid effective response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa as possible. And anything that will dissuade foreign trained personnel from coming here to West Africa and joining us on the front line to fight the fight would be very, very unfortunate" TROLLEY IN WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) WAREHOUSE VARIOUS OF SUPPLIES STACKED IN WAREHOUSE U.N. VEHICLE PACKED AT WFP YARD VARIOUS OF EQUIPMENT NEAR WFP TENT IN YARD WORKER STACKING BLACK UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) BAGS BAGS STACKED IN TENT UNITED NATIONS HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE DEPOT (UNHRD) (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) EBOLA MISSION (UNMEER), ANTHONY BANBURY, SAYING: "One of our biggest challenges we just don't have good information. The data is very weak so we don't know exactly the total number of people who have the disease. We don't know really what the transmission rates are or transmission patterns. We don't know the exactly the geographical location so it will be very hard to do an emergency response of this nature, when you don't know exactly where the people in need are" WFP COMPOUND FORKLIFT WITH SUPPLIES COMING OUT FROM WAREHOUSE VARIOUS OF TRUCK BEING LOADED WITH SUPPLIES WFP WAREHOUSE FORKLIFT IN WAREHOUSE LOADED WITH SUPPLIES SIGN ON CAR READING (English): 'UNMEER MONROVIA' SOUNDBITE (English) HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) EBOLA MISSION (UNMEER), ANTHONY BANBURY, SAYING: "We've made, I think, a lot of good progress but we still definitely have a way to go. One thing we are complicating it, is in order to meet the 70 percent deadline for safe burials and cases and treatment, we need to know the caseload is going to be, and we just don't know where the disease is going to be in the first week in December. So it's really complicated to plan for, but we are doing everything possible to mobilise the response" VARIOUS OF PEOPLE USING SANITISER AND RUBBING HANDS TOGETHER VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SITTING AND EATING VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC IN ACCRA
- Embargoed: 13th November 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Ghana
- Country: Ghana
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA8LIVBVURVGRBCNI40LIBUF7JH
- Story Text: Governments around the world must not deter health workers from coming to West Africa to fight Ebola, and quarantine decisions should not be based on hysteria, the head of the U.N. mission battling the virus said on Monday (October 27).
The U.S. states of New York, New Jersey and Illinois have issued new quarantine rules for people returning from West Africa in response to fears that U.S. federal guidelines do not go far enough to contain an outbreak centred in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone that has infected 10,000 people.
Some groups have challenged the rules as too extreme and a nurse who was quarantined after returning from Sierra Leone criticised her isolation on Sunday (October 26), saying she posed no health threat.
"Decisions should be based on science and facts and not hyper hysteria and decisions should be taken in a way that will promote the most rapid effective response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa as possible. And anything that will dissuade foreign trained personnel from coming here to West Africa and joining us on the front line to fight the fight would be very, very unfortunate," Anthony Banbury, the head of the United Nations Ebola Mission (UNMEER) said.
UNMEER was set up in part after complaints by aid groups that the World Health Organisation had moved too slowly in its initial response to an outbreak that was identified in March.
The mission has set itself a December 1st deadline to have 70 percent of cases of Ebola under treatment and 70 percent of Ebola victims safely and humanely buried.
There is an interim goal of mobilising necessary resources by November 1st.
"We've made, I think, a lot of good progress but we still definitely have a way to go. One thing we are complicating it, is in order to meet the 70 percent deadline for safe burials and cases and treatment, we need to know the caseload is going to be, and we just don't know where the disease is going to be in the first week in December. So it's really complicated to plan for, but we are doing everything possible to mobilise the response," Banbury said.
He added that a fresh audit of the needs and the international response showed the main requirement was for hundreds of foreign healthcare workers, preferably those who were ready to run Ebola Treatment Units.
The East African Community has offered 600 workers, while Ethiopia has offered 200 and UNMEER held talks with the World Bank on Monday on how they could be integrated into the overall effort.
The offers come in the context of criticism of the African Union and other regional bodies for not providing enough practical support to governments facing Ebola.
One of the biggest problems UNMEER faces is obtaining accurate statistics on the needs and the spread of the disease.
"We just don't have good information. The data is very weak so we don't know exactly the total number of people who have the disease. We don't know really what the transmission rates are or transmission patterns. We don't know the exactly the geographical location so it will be very hard to do an emergency response of this nature, when you don't know exactly where the people in need are," said Banbury.
A case of Ebola detected in Mali last week in a two-year-old girl who has since died must be prevented from becoming a national outbreak, he said.
The United Nations sent 1,000 sets of protective gear to Mali for health workers and is deploying fresh staff, he said.
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