Ebola 'sprinting faster than our collective efforts', UN told
- 10 years ago
As Ebola continues its trail of devastation in West Africa, with a death toll of more than 3,000 people, the foreign ministers of Sierra Leone and Liberia have called on the international community to do more to help.
According to the UN, one billion US dollars is needed to tackle the outbreak but so far just 350 million dollars has been pledged.
The Liberian foreign minister, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, told the UN they can’t keep up.
“Ebola has confounded all of us. It has sprinted faster than our collective efforts. Sadly, as Ebola widens its deadly circumference, it is creating a trail of traumatised orphans across the country, which includes that 10-year-old kid from Baka Du, Lofa County, who is the last person standing in a family of 12.”
Sierra Leone’s minister asked for faster deployments of staff, medicines and equipment.
The World Health Organization warns the infection rate could reach 20,000 by November. The death rate in those infected is over 50 percent.
According to the UN, one billion US dollars is needed to tackle the outbreak but so far just 350 million dollars has been pledged.
The Liberian foreign minister, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, told the UN they can’t keep up.
“Ebola has confounded all of us. It has sprinted faster than our collective efforts. Sadly, as Ebola widens its deadly circumference, it is creating a trail of traumatised orphans across the country, which includes that 10-year-old kid from Baka Du, Lofa County, who is the last person standing in a family of 12.”
Sierra Leone’s minister asked for faster deployments of staff, medicines and equipment.
The World Health Organization warns the infection rate could reach 20,000 by November. The death rate in those infected is over 50 percent.