AU Holds Emergency Meeting On Ebola Outbreak
Following the unabated spread of the Ebola Virus Disease,
EVD, in West Africa, latest reports say African Union chiefs are
currently holding an emergency meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
It was gathered that the aim of the meeting is to hammer out a continent-wide strategy to deal with the Ebola epidemic, which has killed over 2,000 people in west Africa.
“Fighting Ebola must be done in a manner that doesn’t fuel
isolation or lead to the stigmatisation of victims, communities and
countries,” AU commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, speaking at the opening of the meeting.
Dlamini-Zuma told the executive council of the 54-member body, meeting at the bloc’s headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, of the urgent need to “craft a united, comprehensive and collective African response” to the outbreak.
This AU latest meeting is holding after hopes rose of a potential vaccine to provide temporary shield against Ebola.
Few weeks ago, researchers reported in the journal Nature Medicine that a vaccine tested so far only on monkeys provided “completely short-term and partial long-term protection” from the deadly virus.
It was gathered that the aim of the meeting is to hammer out a continent-wide strategy to deal with the Ebola epidemic, which has killed over 2,000 people in west Africa.
Photo: dailymail.co.uk
Dlamini-Zuma told the executive council of the 54-member body, meeting at the bloc’s headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, of the urgent need to “craft a united, comprehensive and collective African response” to the outbreak.
This AU latest meeting is holding after hopes rose of a potential vaccine to provide temporary shield against Ebola.
Few weeks ago, researchers reported in the journal Nature Medicine that a vaccine tested so far only on monkeys provided “completely short-term and partial long-term protection” from the deadly virus.
According to the report, the tests of the vaccine on humans would begin in early September, with first results by year’s end.
The death toll from the Ebola epidemic, which is spreading across west Africa, with Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone the worst hit — has topped 2,000, of nearly 4,000 people who have been infected, according to the World Health Organization.
Some affected countries have imposed quarantines on whole regions while others which are so far spared from the deadly virus have halted flights to affected countries.
Dlamini-Zuma warned that in the battle to stop the spread, “we must be careful not to introduce measures that may have more… social and economic impact than the disease itself.”
With border restrictions hampering trade, food prices are rising, she said, echoing the UN’s warning of serious foot shortages in the worst-hit countries.
“We should put in place tough measures to halt the spread of the disease, but we must also put in place measures to enable agriculture to continue and support the traders,” Dlamini-Zuma added.
President Barack Obama had on Sunday said the US military will join the fight against the fast-spreading disease, saying that the deadly toll was being exacerbated because of the rudimentary public health infrastructure.
The pledge of US military support follows the European Union’s decision on Friday to sharply increase funding to tackle the outbreak, boosting previously announced aid to 140 million euros ($183 million).
No fewer than seven people have been confirmed dead from the Ebola virus in Nigeria since the late Patrick Sawyer imported the disease into Nigeria on 20 July, 2014.
The death toll from the Ebola epidemic, which is spreading across west Africa, with Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone the worst hit — has topped 2,000, of nearly 4,000 people who have been infected, according to the World Health Organization.
Some affected countries have imposed quarantines on whole regions while others which are so far spared from the deadly virus have halted flights to affected countries.
Dlamini-Zuma warned that in the battle to stop the spread, “we must be careful not to introduce measures that may have more… social and economic impact than the disease itself.”
With border restrictions hampering trade, food prices are rising, she said, echoing the UN’s warning of serious foot shortages in the worst-hit countries.
“We should put in place tough measures to halt the spread of the disease, but we must also put in place measures to enable agriculture to continue and support the traders,” Dlamini-Zuma added.
President Barack Obama had on Sunday said the US military will join the fight against the fast-spreading disease, saying that the deadly toll was being exacerbated because of the rudimentary public health infrastructure.
The pledge of US military support follows the European Union’s decision on Friday to sharply increase funding to tackle the outbreak, boosting previously announced aid to 140 million euros ($183 million).
No fewer than seven people have been confirmed dead from the Ebola virus in Nigeria since the late Patrick Sawyer imported the disease into Nigeria on 20 July, 2014.
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