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WHO / EBOLA ROADMAP
STORY: WHO / EBOLA ROADMAP
TRT: 2.25
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 28 AUGUST 2014, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, dais
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General for Polio, Emergencies and Country Collaboration:
“What we are seeing today in contrast to previous Ebola outbreaks, multiple hotspots within these countries, not a single remote forested area, the kind of environments which it has been tackled in the past. And then not just multiple hotspots within one country, but international disease, and it is now, as you know, really a multinational effort, three countries, heavily affected.”
3. Close up, printout of the Ebola Response Roadmap
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General for Polio, Emergencies and Country Collaboration:
“The goal, very clearly, we are all on the same page, is to stop transmission in the affected countries within eight to nine months. Everyone says why a range? If anyone has dealt with urban Ebola before on this scale, let me know and we will use that number. We have to be realistic that there is uncertainty, and it is reflected in a number of aspects of the roadmap as we go forward.”
5. Wide shot, pressroom
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General for Polio, Emergencies and Country Collaboration:
“Now the other thing to know about this plan is it is designed to address a case load of up, that could exceed 20,000 cases.”
7. Pan right, pressroom
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General for Polio, Emergencies and Country Collaboration:
“That is not saying we expect 20,000 cases; that is not saying we would accept, more importantly, 20,000 cases, I think that is completely unacceptable.”
9. Pan right, pressroom
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General for Polio, Emergencies and Country Collaboration:
“Bans on travel and trade and the rest will not stop this virus; absolutely not. In fact you are more likely to compromise the ability to respond, to get more and more disease, more and more people trying to move, you are going to get yourself in trouble, it is a self-defeating strategy to ban travel.”
11. Close up, printout of the Ebola Response Roadmap
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General for Polio, Emergencies and Country Collaboration:
“Very simple measures will keep people safe. We know about transmission, we know how to manage that, the issue is making sure the necessary pieces are implemented, so that is a key, key piece of it.”
13. Close up, reporter’s laptop computer
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General for Polio, Emergencies and Country Collaboration:
“Going forward this is going to cost, we estimate, 489 million dollars over the next six months. It is a big operation; we are talking well over 12,000 people operating over multiple geographies in very difficult and high risk circumstances. It is expensive.”
15. Wide shot, pressroom
16. Zoom out, end of presser
The World Health Organization (WHO) today (28 August) issued a roadmap to guide and coordinate the international response to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa.
At a press conference in Geneva, Dr Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General for Polio, Emergencies and Country Collaboration of the WHO said “what we are seeing today in contrast to previous Ebola outbreaks, multiple hotspots within these countries, not a single remote forested area, the kind of environments which it has been tackled in the past. And then not just multiple hotspots within one country, but international disease, and it is now, as you know, really a multinational effort, three countries, heavily affected.”
The aim will be to stop ongoing Ebola transmission worldwide within 6–9 months, while rapidly managing the consequences of any further international spread. It also recognizes the need to address, in parallel, the outbreak’s broader socioeconomic impact.
Aylward said “we have to be realistic that there is uncertainty, and it is reflected in a number of aspects of the roadmap as we go forward.”
He stressed that although the plan is “designed to address a case load of up, that could exceed 20,000 cases,” this “is not saying we expect 20,000 case; that is not saying we would accept, more importantly, 20,000 cases, I think that is completely unacceptable.”
The roadmap was informed by comments received from a large number of partners, including health officials in the affected countries, the African Union, development banks, other UN agencies, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and countries providing direct financial support.
It will serve as a framework for updating detailed operational plans. Priority is being given to needs for treatment and management centres, social mobilization, and safe burials. These plans will be based on site-specific data that are being set out in regular situation reports, which will begin this week.
Aylward said that travel bans are expected to ease up in the coming weeks. He said “bans on travel and trade and the rest will not stop this virus; absolutely not. In fact you are more likely to compromise the ability to respond, to get more and more disease, more and more people trying to move, you are going to get yourself in trouble, it is a self-defeating strategy to ban travel.”
“Very simple measures” he said “will keep people safe” and the issue is “making sure the necessary pieces are implemented, so that is a key, key piece of it.”
Going forward, he added 489 million dollars will be required for the next six months.
He said “it is a big operation; we are talking well over 12,000 people operating over multiple geographies in very difficult and high risk circumstances. It is expensive.”
The situation reports map the hotspots and hot zones, present epidemiological data showing how the outbreak is evolving over time, and communicate what is known about the location of treatment facilities and laboratories, together with data needed to support other elements of the roadmap.
The roadmap covers the health dimensions of the international response. These dimensions include key potential bottlenecks requiring international coordination, such as the supply of personal protective equipment, disinfectants, and body bag.
The WHO roadmap will be complemented by the development of a separate UN-wide operational platform that brings in the skills and capacities of other agencies, including assets in the areas of logistics and transportation. The UN-wide platform aims to facilitate the delivery of essential services, such as food and other provisions, water supply and sanitation, and primary health care.
Resource flows to implement the roadmap will be tracked separately, with support from the World Bank.
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