WHO declares Ebola outbreak an international health emergency

The World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a global health emergency on Wednesday, a move that is likely to escalate international attention on a crisis that has flared for a year despite aggressive efforts to stamp it out.

The declaration, which critics have contended is long overdue, could increase the amount of funding and assistance other countries are willing to provide to the response effort.

But if the experience of the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014-2016 is any indication, it could also lead to border closings, trade restrictions, cancellations of flights, and the suspension of visas to people from the DRC.

“The government of DRC is doing everything they can,” said Tedros, as he is known. “They need the support of the international community. … That includes its financial support.”

The WHO and its partners in the containment effort have struggled to stop this outbreak, the second largest on record. There have been more than 2,500 cases and close to 1,700 deaths.

They have also struggled to raise the funding needed to finance the operation, and have warned recently that the lack of funds is actually limiting what can be done on the ground.

“WHO is not aware of any donor that has withheld funding because a PHEIC had not been declared,” the director general said. “But if that was the excuse, it can no longer be used.”

https://www.statnews.com/2019/07/17/who-declares-ebola-outbreak-an-international-health-emergency/

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