The World Health Organization is shifting into high gear. Ebola is “a public health emergency of global concern” and all countries must fight the epidemic together.
“A global public health emergency. The Ebola virus epidemic raging in West Africa has reached a new level, and the World Health Organization (WHO) is determined to take it seriously. In a statement, she called for international solidarity.
A global threat
The WHO emergency committee met on Wednesday and Thursday in Geneva (Switzerland) to discuss the situation in West Africa and around the world. Its conclusions are final: at a time when two patients have been repatriated to the United States, one to Spain, while one person has been treated in Saudi Arabia, the threat is global. The European Commissioner for Health, Tonio Borg, believes that a risk of spread in Europe is “extremely low” due to the low number of exchanges between Europe and West Africa and the mode of transmission of the virus. The US authorities are less optimistic: “We live in a world where we are all connected and inevitably there will be travelers, US nationals and others who will travel to these countries (…) and come back here. with symptoms, ”admitted Tom Frieden, director of the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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A critical situation in Africa On the African side, the situation is further complicated: the WHO now counts 1,711 cumulative cases, including 932 fatalities. Sierra Leone has placed two cities under quarantine. Nigeria, where 7 cases are now reported, deplores two deaths in its capital, Lagos. The first came from Liberia, the second concerns a nurse who treated this patient. A total of 70 people are under close surveillance, half of them in quarantine. But the tension is at its height: Lagos is the most populous city on the continent (20 million inhabitants).
The President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, meanwhile decreed “extraordinary measures” and declared a state of emergency for 90 days. The army will have to limit population movements and control access to Monrovia, the capital. According to the president, “ignorance, poverty, as well as entrenched cultural and religious practices continue to exacerbate the spread of the disease, especially in the provinces. Sierra Leone also limits traffic, closes nightclubs, cinemas and video clubs, and establishes strict burial rules: “Ebola patients who die must be buried at the place of their death”, asserted the presidency. |
WHO calls for international solidarity
At the WHO, only cooperation will make it possible to put an end to the scourge: “A coordinated international response is essential to stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola”, insisted Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO. With these words, it encourages the vigilance of each country, but it also calls for international solidarity. Countries affected by Ebola “cannot deal with it on their own. The United States is already very present on the ground: in Guinea, the CDC test with the government medical examinations for each person leaving the country. Nigeria, for its part, has contacted the country to request access. serum tested in Atlanta (Georgia, United States).
And if the United States, like France, have advised their nationals not to travel to West Africa, the WHO is more measured. No question of restricting the exchange of men or goods, but “States must prepare to detect and treat cases of Ebola patients. ” France has already mobilized several hospitals for this purpose. Governments should also “facilitate the evacuation of their nationals, in particular medical personnel, who have been exposed to Ebola. “
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