WASHINGTON, December 1 (Sputnik) – The United Nations strategy to fight the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa proved to be a success, Head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) Anthony Banbury said Monday.
"Response to the Ebola crisis has succeeded in turning this crisis around. We have been extremely successful in getting this crisis under control," Banbury told a press conference.
The UNMEER head said that remarkable results have been achieved since the mission was established in September. Back then epidemiologists predicted that by December 1, ten thousand new cases per week would arise in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
"We are at less than one tenth of that, this is a huge success for the international community," Banbury said.
Banbury added that the UN specific targets for December 1 were 70 percent of burials in the Ebola-hit countries to be done safely, and 70 percent of new cases to be treated in specially designated Ebola treatment facilities.
"We have exceeded those targets in most cases," Banbury said adding that there still are "a couple places that are in serious crisis in Sierra Leone" that must be targeted.
Talking about the Ebola outbreak effect on West African economies, Banbury said "there were predictions of the economic impact from Ebola over $35 billion, now that is about one tenth of that."
"Going forward we need to get down to zero [of new Ebola cases], zero is the only success," Banbury stressed.
For the next 60 days UNMEER target is to put in place "a district by district strategy for the 62 districts" in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone with an emphasis on "contact tracing, surveillance, rapid response capabilities," Banbury said.
"I'm very confident that 60 days from now these three countries will be in a much better condition than they are now," Banbury concluded.
The current Ebola virus outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013, spreading later to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal. In October, World Health Organization (WHO) declared Nigeria and Senegal Ebola-free.
According to the most recent WHO data, 5,689 people have died from the Ebola disease outbreak, with 15,935 of confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of the virus having been reported.
