Doctors body calls for more action on pledges against Ebola

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Dr Joanne Liu, International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said while generous pledges of aid and unprecedented United Nations resolutions welcome, they would mean little unless they were translated into immediate action.

“The reality on the ground today is this: the promised surge has not yet delivered,” she said while addressing a High-level Meeting on Response to the Ebola Disease Outbreak at the United Nations General Assembly.

“The isolation centers you (leaders) have promised must be established NOW. And other countries must not let a few states carry the load.  Complacency is a worse enemy than the virus. The required response must be hands-on, rigorous and disciplined. And it must not be subcontracted. It is not enough for states to just build isolation centers.  While NGOs can manage some, you will have to manage many. Don’t cut corners.  Massive, direct action is the only way.”

She said an equally massive effort was needed to create a vaccine, an additional tool for cutting the chain of transmission.

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“But current models of vaccine development will not work. We need incentives for trials and production, along with collaborative research and open source data.  A safe vaccine must be accessible, and rapidly delivered to the most affected populations. There is today a political momentum the world has rarely—if ever—seen. As world leaders, you will be judged by how you use it.”

The MSF, also known as Doctors without Frontiers, has been complementing the struggling governments’ efforts to curb the spread of the ravaging Ebola.

About 2 000 people, a small number in Nigeria, have succumbed to the latest outbreak that was first detected at the beginning of the year.

The problem has been among the most-discussed at the UN General Assembly.