Qatar – The Ebola crisis is a "public health emergency of international concern"

(MENAFN – Gulf Times) The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm in the face of Ebola, a highly contagious disease that has already killed more than 1,600 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country of Central Africa.
The WHO recently declared that the Ebola crisis in the DRC is a "public health emergency of international concern", which could encourage wealthy donor countries to provide more funds, which is essential to combat the epidemic. Epidemic of killers.
In qualifying the current Emergency Public Health Emergency (PHEIC) situation, the WHO has placed it in a rare category including the 2009 influenza pandemic, the 2016 Zika epidemic. and the Ebola outbreak that claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people in West Africa before its end in 2016.
Even as they declared urgency, WHO officials have attempted to replicate reactions that, in their view, could harm the DRC's economy and efforts to stop the epidemic. The World Health Organization has not failed to say that borders should be closed, saying the risk of spreading the disease outside the region is not high.
"It is time for the whole world to become aware of it," said WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who accepted the recommendations that there should be no restrictions on travel or trade, or on control at all. the entrance of pbadengers in ports or airports located outside the immediate area.
The outbreak, the second largest in history, began in August 2018 and affects two provinces of DR Congo, North Kivu and Ituri.
Health officials are also concerned about the safety of those fighting the epidemic. More than 2,500 people have been infected and two-thirds of them have already died.
It took 224 days for the number of cases to reach 1,000, but only 71 additional days to reach 2,000, the BBC reported.
About 12 new cases are reported each day, he added.
According to health experts, Ebola vaccines are available and have been found to be effective. More than 161,000 people have received it.
However, not everyone is vaccinated, with the exception of people who come in direct contact with a patient with Ebola and people who come into contact with them.
The vaccine was developed during the outbreak in West Africa and was available throughout the last outbreak.
The fight against the disease has been complicated by the conflict in the region.
Since January, there have been 198 attacks on health workers, leaving seven dead and 58 wounded, a BBC report said.
Another major problem has been the mistrust of health care workers, which explains that about one-third of deaths occur in the community rather than in a specialized Ebola treatment center.
This means that these people do not seek treatment and may spread the disease to their neighbors and relatives.
Although the WHO statement does not legally oblige Member States to do anything, it certainly sounds like a global warning.
The declaration increases the visibility of the epidemic and public health officials hope that it will spur the international community to fight the spread of this often deadly disease.
Unless the international community intervenes and finances the response now, we risk paying for this outbreak for a long time.

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