Ebola spreads

Ebola spreads

The UN's goal of 'zero Ebola' is still very much an uphill task. 

There is an Ebola emergency in Sierra Leone. If reports emanating from the African country are to be believed, a large number of people have died by the infectious virus, and many more are exposed to the dreaded disease. In Freetown, one of the most-affected areas, bulldozers were seen clearing large areas for preparing a new burial ground. This is a shocking development and goes on to establish that the disease is out of control and lack of essential medical facilities in the region are leading to unaccountable deaths.

The United Nations head for Ebola response mission in West Africa, Tony Banbury, has warned that there is still a huge risk the deadly disease could spread to other parts of the world. The world body had set the deadline of December 1, to inform the world whether its contingency plan is working or not. This new update from Banbury merely confirms the fear that the world is at the verge of a bigger epidemic, and to this day the virus has not been arrested clinically. He had also said months back that by December majority of all those infected must be under treatment and the victims safely buried, if the outbreak is to be stemmed successfully. But the interim audit of the disease has apparently come up with a dismal record, and that largely owes to lack of vaccine.

The UN’s goal of ‘zero Ebola’ deaths can only be attained if relief work policies are coordinated on a gigantic scale, and resources are poured in time in the virus-hit areas. It’s still very much an uphill task.

SOURCE: Khaleej Times