The head of
the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, has called for reform amid
criticism of the body's response to the Ebola crisis. She warned against
complacency despite progress in fighting the epidemic.
Deutsche Welle, 25 Jan 2015
A baby receives a vaccine during a routine doctor's visit at the Kuntorloh Community Health Centre in the outskirts of Freetown on November 14, 2014. AFP Photo/ Francisco Leong/Getty Images |
Chan told a
rare emergency session of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva on
Sunday that it had been too sluggish in responding to the recent Ebola crisis
in West Africa, saying the agency should learn from its mistakes.
"This
was West Africa's first experience with the virus and it delivered some
horrific shocks and surprises," she said.
"The
world, including WHO, was too slow to see what was unfolding before us,"
Chan admitted, adding that "never again should the world be caught by
surprise, unprepared."
Chan went
on to say that although the "worst-case scenario" had been avoided
and progress in fighting the disease was evident in the three worst-hit
countries - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - the world should not let down
its guard.
"Cases
are clearly declining in all three countries, but we must maintain the momentum
and guard against complacency and donor fatigue," she said, warning that
cases of the disease could easily surge if bodies were buried unsafely or
communities violently resisted attempts at disease prevention.
Zero target
She added
that the WHO aimed to reduce the number of Ebola cases in the three countries
this year "to zero," while admitting this was "not going to be
easy."
Chan said the Ebola crisis taught many lessons |
In her
speech, Chan called for a "dedicated contingency fund to support rapid
responses to outbreaks and emergencies" and for help to be given to
countries so they can maintain their own highly trained teams to react quickly
to emergencies.
She also
demanded better international coordination and surveillance and improved crisis
management within WHO itself.
The
director of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Tom Frieden, also pointed
out failings in the WHO reponse to the outbreak, calling for "significant
changes."
"We
have to be frank that too many times the technical is over-ruled by the
political in WHO. We have to reverse that. It must be technical, from the
selection of regional directors to the establishment of rapid response,"
he told the meeting.
African
dissatisfaction
Sunday's
meeting of the WHO executive board was called by several member states critical
of the United Nations agency's slow response.
"Countries
in the African region feel that building WHO's capacity to respond to
emergencies must be a priority activity," said Liberia's deputy health
minister Dr. Bernice Dahn, saying the Africa region had "been disappointed
by slow progress."
The recent
outbreak of Ebola, a hemorrhagic fever transmitted by body fluids, has left at
least 8,641 people dead over the past year or so, most of them in West Africa,
according to WHO estimates.
tj/bw (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
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