WHO urges East Asia and Pacific countries to deal with Ebola epidemic

Faced with the complicated developments of the Ebola epidemic, which has the potential to spread globally, the World Health Organization has urged East Asia and Pacific (TBD) countries to strengthen measures to protect people against the disease.

Rescue workers on disinfection duty in Dallas, Texas, USA (Photo: VNA)

In a speech at a conference in Manila (Philippines) on October 13, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan emphasized that with more than 1.8 billion people, the East Asia and Pacific region has become a hot spot for many diseases, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and bird flu. However, so far, the region has not been infected with the Ebola virus that is raging in West Africa. According to the WHO head, the outbreak has shown that one of the most deadly diseases on Earth can attack the weak points of the health infrastructure system in a very serious way. She recommended that countries need to be ready with preventive measures in case the worst happens.

Meanwhile, WHO Director for East Asia and the Pacific Shin Young-soo (Sin Y-ung Xu) stressed that the risk of Ebola spreading to the region is very high due to travel and trade activities. He warned that if this happens, the consequences will be unpredictable.

In a related development, the same day, the European Union (EU) scheduled a meeting of health ministers on October 16 to discuss the possibility of screening travelers from West African countries affected by the Ebola epidemic. Officials said the meeting was held to “coordinate actions of member states” in the context of no agreement on whether to monitor people coming to Europe or not.

A European source said the meeting would also discuss “the effectiveness of screening procedures at points of departure from countries affected by Ebola.” So far, Britain is the only European country to carry out screening at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, as well as on Eurostar trains from France and Belgium.

According to the latest figures from WHO, more than 4,000 people have died from the Ebola virus in 7 countries since the outbreak last March./.

According to VNA