West Africa Ebola outbreak needs 'unusual' response
- 10 years ago
As the United Nations warns that an Ebola outbreak spreading out of control in West Africa could lead to food shortages, hospital authorities in Hong Kong have been using how to handle and treat suspected Ebola victims.
No Ebola patient has been identified in Hong Kong since the Ebola outbreak started.
The purpose of the drill was to ensure that authorities were able to detect a suspected case in the community in the early stages.
David Nabarro, Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Ebola, said the outbreak needs an unusual response.
“We know we haven’t done enough. We understand that the outbreak is moving out of our grasp,” he said.
“This global emergency requires an unusual coalition of actors. In my view, every country in the world needs to think, what can we do to help. Because if we do not get on top of this outbreak as a global community, then this could affect all of us in unexpected ways,” continued Nabarro.
The World Health Organisation and other experts have been struggling to support fragile healthcare systems in some of the world’s poorest countries. So far, though, additional staff and resources have been slow to arrive on the ground.
No Ebola patient has been identified in Hong Kong since the Ebola outbreak started.
The purpose of the drill was to ensure that authorities were able to detect a suspected case in the community in the early stages.
David Nabarro, Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Ebola, said the outbreak needs an unusual response.
“We know we haven’t done enough. We understand that the outbreak is moving out of our grasp,” he said.
“This global emergency requires an unusual coalition of actors. In my view, every country in the world needs to think, what can we do to help. Because if we do not get on top of this outbreak as a global community, then this could affect all of us in unexpected ways,” continued Nabarro.
The World Health Organisation and other experts have been struggling to support fragile healthcare systems in some of the world’s poorest countries. So far, though, additional staff and resources have been slow to arrive on the ground.