UNITED NATIONS, October 10 (RIA Novosti) – The global community has collected only a quarter of one billion dollars, the sum needed to tackle the Ebola outbreak raging in West Africa, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Jan Eliasson said Friday.
“Of the $1 billion sought by UN agencies under consolidated appeal only one quarter has been funded,” Eliasson told a special UN General Assembly meeting on the response to Ebola.
A surge in trained healthcare personnel and more efficient medical evacuation are also needed to help tackle the crisis, Eliasson added.
“Now it’s time for action. It is a global concern and it demands a global respond,” UN Deputy Secretary-General stressed.
“The people of West Africa now to a great deal depend on us. Let us give them hope. Let us be at their side. Let us end this crisis swiftly and decisively,” Eliasson concluded.
The number of people who have died from the Ebola virus has reached 4,033, while a total of 8,399 cases have been reported, the World Health Organization said Friday.
The Ebola epidemic currently taking place in West Africa broke out in southern Guinea in February, and later spread across the entire region, with cases also having been reported in Spain and the United States.
According to Zsuzsanna Jakab, Director of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the risk of Ebola's spread in European countries remains low, but separate cases are inevitable, as people continue traveling between Europe and the affected countries.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected. Though there is no officially approved medication for the disease, several countries, including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan are currently working on developing Ebola vaccines.
