UN Mission to Tackle Ebola Will Begin Its Work from Sunday

The new UN mission constituted to tackle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa will begin its work on the ground from Sunday, providing supplies and equipment needed to contain the disease's worst ever outbreak.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon created the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) last week and named American Anthony Banbury as head of the team, which will be headquartered in Accra.

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Ebola is caused by a virus via direct contact with body fluids or infected blood. Scientists have identified five types of Ebola or Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus.

"We are moving ahead with all possible speed," Banbury told reporters on Thursday after a high-level meeting in New York called to rev up the international response to the crisis.

"The headquarters will deploy from New York to Accra on Sunday," he said, adding that offices would open in Monrovia, Freetown and Conakry in the following days.

Banbury said his mission will arrive with two million sets of personal protective gear, 470 trucks, up to 18 helicopters and other aircraft to coordinate the response to the outbreak.

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Around 3,000 American soldiers who will lend a helping hand to health services in West Africa in containing the Ebola outbreak will be based in Liberia's defence ministry.

Aid groups have harshly criticized the United Nations for its handling of the Ebola crisis, saying it failed to move quickly to mobilize resources and assistance to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The United Nations has said nearly $1 billion would be needed to beat back the outbreak of Ebola, which has killed close to 3,000 people and is on track to infect 20,000 people by the end of the year.

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Health experts in 16 European countries have termed the outbreak as a threat to the ‘entire world’.

A UN agency was created to address the AIDS pandemic, UNAIDS, but this marks the first time that a special mission is set up with the mandate to address a public health emergency.

Source-AFP