World Health Organization: Ebola is Modern Era's Worst Health Emergency
AP
MANILA,
Philippines (AP) -- The World Health Organization called the Ebola
outbreak "the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times"
on Monday but also said that economic disruptions can be curbed if
people are adequately informed to prevent irrational moves to dodge
infection.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan,
citing World Bank figures, said 90 percent of economic costs of any
outbreak "come from irrational and disorganized efforts of the public to
avoid infection."
Staffers of the global
health organization "are very well aware that fear of infection has
spread around the world much faster than the virus," Chan said in a
statement read out to a regional health conference in the Philippine
capital, Manila.
"We are seeing, right now,
how this virus can disrupt economies and societies around the world,"
she said, but added that adequately educating the public was a "good
defense strategy" and would allow governments to prevent economic
disruptions.
The Ebola epidemic has killed
more than 4,000 people, mostly in the West African countries of Liberia,
Sierra Leone and Guinea, according to WHO figures published last week.
Chan
did not specify those steps but praised the Philippines for holding an
anti-Ebola summit last week which was joined by government health
officials and private sector representatives, warning that the Southeast
Asian country was vulnerable due to the large number of Filipinos
working abroad.
While bracing for Ebola,
health officials should continue to focus on major health threats,
including non-communicable diseases, she said.
Philippine
Health Secretary Enrique Ona said authorities will ask more than 1,700
Filipinos working in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to observe
themselves for at least 21 days for Ebola symptoms in those countries
first if they plan to return home.
Once home,
they should observe themselves for another 21 days and then report the
result of their self-screening to health authorities to be doubly sure
they have not been infected, he said, adding that hospitals which would
deal with any Ebola patients have already been identified in the
Philippines.
Last month, U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged leaders in the most affected
countries to establish special centers that aim to isolate infected
people from non-infected relatives in an effort to stem the spread of
Ebola.
Ban has also appealed for airlines and
shipping companies not to suspend services to countries affected by
Ebola. Doing so, he said, hinders delivery of humanitarian and medical
assistance.
