@WHO & Partners Ebola Response In Guinea
# 9080
In early August the WHO Emergency IHR Committee Declared Ebola Outbreak a PHEIC (Public Health Emergency of International Concern) which has helped ramp up the international response to the growing crisis in Western Africa.
Today, in one of two emails sent out by the World Health Organization, we learn that a second `virtual’ meeting is going this week to consider additional steps that can be taken, and that the results of that consultation will be made public when completed.
Media Advisory WHO/20
The second meeting of the International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee on Ebola Viral Disease
WHAT: This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) will reconvene the IHR Emergency Committee on Ebola. The Members will hold their discussions via email in order to re-assess the ongoing Ebola outbreak situation in West Africa, and actions taken since it was declared a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” on 8 August.
The aim of this second meeting is to re-assess the situation and decide if additional temporary measures to reduce international spread should be taken.
The Members of the Emergency Committee will hear from the affected countries on the implementation of the recommendations made at the first meeting and what adjustments, if any, are necessary.At the close of the meeting, WHO will post its final report on the website and will send this to media.
In a second email, WHO welcomes the contributions being offered by China in the fight against Ebola.
WHO welcomes Chinese contribution of mobile laboratory and health experts for Ebola response in West Africa
Statement
16 September 2014GENEVA¦ 16 September 2014 -- WHO welcomes the commitment from the Government of the People’s Republic of China to dispatch a mobile laboratory team to Sierra Leone to enhance the laboratory testing capacity for Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the country.
The contribution comes in response to WHO’s appeal for further assistance to Ebola response efforts in Africa and requests by the government of Sierra Leone. In addition to laboratory experts, the 59-person team from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control will include epidemiologists, clinicians and nurses. They will support Ebola response efforts at the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital, which was built in 2012 with assistance from the Chinese Government.
“The most urgent immediate need in the Ebola response is for more medical staff,” says Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “The newly announced team will join 115 Chinese medical staff on the ground in Sierra Leone virtually since the beginning. This is a huge boost, morally and operationally.”
The WHO Ebola response roadmap, released on 28 August, highlights the need for a massively scaled response to support affected countries. The commitment from the Chinese Government exemplifies the kind of international effort required to intensify response activities and strengthen national capacities.
