Geneva: Fight to stop Ebola was being lost, said the World Bank on Friday as the UN pleaded for more money to combat the escalating epidemic and global travel fears mounted.
The death toll from the world’s worst-ever outbreak of the virus Ebola shot past 4 500, a glimmer of hope came from Senegal, which was declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organisation.
Meanwhile the United States named an “Ebola czar” to co-ordinate its response, after criticism of how a Texas hospital handled a Liberian victim, with two nurses who treated him now infected.
Researcher at British pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline said that vaccine may not be ready for commercial use until late 2016.
World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim warned, “We are losing the battle.” He also blamed a lack of international solidarity in efforts to stem the epidemic.
He said, “Certain countries are only worried about their own borders.”
World Health Organisation said that 4,555 people have died from Ebola out of a total of 9,216 registered cases in seven countries till 14 October. Most of the dead are in three West African nations at the centre of the outbreak: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Infection rate could hit 10000 a week by early December, warned experts.
The United Nations has said that it has received less than 40% of the nearly $1bn it asked for to fight Ebola.
Bureau Report
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