介绍:
High-level UN meeting calls for quick action to tackle Ebola outbreak
For more on the UN meeting on Ebola, here is CRI's UN correspondent Su Yi.
The meeting on Ebola convened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been held on the sidelines of the General Assembly's annual debate.
Ban Ki-moon is recommending there should be a new unit developed to as peacekeepers on the medical front.
"This crisis has highlighted the need to strengthen early identification systems and early action. We should consider whether the world needs a standby corps of medical professionals, backed by the expertise of WHO and the logistical capacity of the United Nations. Just as our troops in blue helmets help keep people safe, a corps in white coats could help keep people healthy. Excellencies, Now is the time for a robust and united effort to stop the outbreak. The world can and must stop Ebola -- now."
Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization, is echoing this view, saying swift action is needed.
"Going forward the most important thing is action, action and action. Action with speed efficiency and translate all the pledges into benefits to stop the Ebola. And going beyond the immediate response to make sure that we start talking about early recovery. As we are hearing, if we don't do that we will bring the whole African continent into a meltdown as President Jim Kim from the World Bank said it."
Over two dozen world leaders participated in Thursday's meeting.
US President Barack Obama is also calling for a faster and sustained response to the deadly outbreak.
"We are not moving fast enough. We are not doing enough. Right now everyone has the best of intentions but people are not putting in the kinds of resources that are necessary to put a stop to this epidemic. There is still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be."
The WHO says the virus has killed almost 3-thousand people and sickened some 6-thousand others.
Health experts issued new warnings this week regarding the scale of the outbreak, with the US government estimating as many as 1.4 million people might be infected in West Africa by January.
For CRI, I'm Su Yi in New York.
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