World News
Ebola response falling flat─── 07:38 Sat, 21 Feb 2015
Geneva - The World Health Organization called for continued support for the fight against Ebola in West Africa, warning Friday that after a rapid reduction, case numbers have remained stagnant for weeks.
Bruce Aylward, WHO special representative on Ebola, said that the curve representing the weekly number of new cases has "flattened out" for the last four weeks, stagnating between 120 and 150 new cases each week.
"This is not what you want to see with Ebola," Aylward said.
"We have the strategy to get Ebola finished. There's absolutely no question that the infrastructure is in place, ... but we do not have the financing necessary ... to get to zero."
Aylward warned that financing from the international community has fallen faster than the number of cases and expressed "deep concern" that this could prolong ending the epidemic.
According to WHO, 23,253 people have contracted the disease, which has ravaged Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since March 2014, resulting in 9,380 deaths.
Sapa
