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UN/EBOLABack
[Published: Thursday November 06 2014]

 UN 'lacks resources' to fight Ebola

Accra, 6 Nov - (ANA) - The head of the UN mission charged with fighting Ebola in West Africa has said that he does not yet have the resources necessary to defeat the deadly virus. Tony Banbury said more help was urgently needed, despite significant contributions from the UK, China, Cuba and the US. But he was hopeful of achieving the target of 70% bed space for new cases and 70% safe burials by December. The confirmed death toll is now 4,818, says the World Health Organization. The numbers are down since the WHO previously reported figures last Friday, as it says it has changed the way the figures are collated. But it said in the countries worst affected by the outbreak - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - transmission remained "persistent and widespread, particularly in the capital cities". In another development, West African heads of state are due to meet on Thursday in Ghana for a special meeting to review the regional response to the crisis. The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank, has announced an initiative to provide at least $450m (£281m) in commercial financing to enable trade, investment, and employment in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Mr Banbury was speaking at the UN headquarters for Ebola response in Ghana, which has not been affected by the epidemic, at the end of a regional tour. He said it was difficult to say if the spread of the disease is slowing as it was a "very mixed picture". In Liberia's capital, Monrovia, there was a decline but there was "significant acceleration" elsewhere. Bed space was still a huge issue, Mr Banbury said, but he hoped that by reducing the numbers of people becoming infected, the UN would eventually be able to reach its targets. He said his organisation did not yet have the capacity to defeat the disease. "It's not here yet. There are still people, villages, towns [and] areas that [are] not getting any type of help right now and we definitely don't have the response capability on the ground now from the international community," he said. At the same time he mentioned contributions from the UK, which opened a new Ebola centre in Sierra Leone on Wednesday. (ANA)
FA/ANA/6 November 2014-------
 

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