West Africa: 'We Are Late, but Not Too Late to Fight and Win This Battle,' Against Ebola - UN

Declaring that the world has never seen anything like current Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa, senior United Nations officials today warned that the virus is "far ahead" of the global response as it is morphing from a local to an international crisis requiring all countries to scale up efforts and financial commitments to bring an end to the scourge.

Briefing the General Assembly on the situation on the ground, Anthony Banbury, head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), via-video link from the operation's headquarters in Ghana warned that the crisis caused by the outbreak is severe and unprecedented.

"The world has never seen anything like it. Time is our enemy. The virus is far ahead of us," he said, emphasizing that the outbreak is more than a health crisis as it is now impacting every level of society in the most-affected countries Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia - killing people, disrupting health systems, and derailing socioeconomic progress.

Joining Mr. Banbury in the briefing, which also included an update on the wider UN response, were the Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson; Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Ebola Dr. David Nabarro; and President of the General Assembly Sam Kutesa.

Mr. Banbury noted that traditional social and cultural practices in the affected countries are among the factors contributing to the spread of the virus. "Many people in the affected countries are still denying Ebola is real. We must understand and respect social mores and practices... while finding methods to combat the disease" that are acceptable at community levels, he said.

As for his initial assessment of the situation in the early days of UNMEER's roll-out, Mr. Banbury said: "The challenge is immense. We are late, but it is not too late to fight and win this battle. We are moving resources to where it is needed most. We will support national leadership and ownership. We shall play the role of 'crisis manager' not just 'response coordinator.' We shall fill gaps and support that which needs backstopping."

But, he continued, UNMEER could not fight the battle alone; its contribution would need to be supported by an array of national and international partners. "To achieve results fast, we must have the world's support," he said calling for strengthened treatment centres and diagnostic laboratories on the ground, scaled up financial support for aid agencies, and reliable arrangements in place to treat and if necessary evacuate workers treating the disease.

Mr. Banbury also said that even as the international community works hard to turn the tide on the outbreak "we need to be incorporating early recovery and long-term needs into the response."

"The world must now act to help the people and governments of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. Failing to help will lead to unpredictable but very dire consequences for the people of the countries and well beyond. As long as there is once case of Ebola in any of these three countries, no country is safe," he said calling for a broad global coalition to battle the spread of the virus. "We must rise to the occasion. We must defeat this disease."

Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said that the Ebola outbreak was putting "hard-won development progress in jeopardy, neighbours are at risk and none of us are insulated from the threat posed by Ebola. No country, no organization can tackle Ebola alone," he said, adding that the crisis requires collective mobilization inside and outside the affected countries.

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