WHO / PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY
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STORY: WHO / PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY
TRT: 2.54
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 8 AUGUST 2014, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / RECENT
RECENT
1. Wide shot, exterior of the WHO Headquarters
8 AUGUST 2014, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General World Health Organization:
“I am declaring the current outbreak of Ebola virus disease a public health emergency of international concern. The committee’s decision was unanimous. Its advice to me acknowledges the serious and unusual nature of the outbreak and the potential for further international spread.”
4. Cutaways, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General World Health Organization:
“The declaration of a public health emergency of international concern, alerts the world to the need high vigilance for possible cases of Ebola virus disease, but by no means implies that all countries or even many countries will see Ebola cases.”
6. Cutaway, cameras
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General World Health Organization:
“The three countries that are most affected by Ebola disease are countries that have very weak health system capacity. They don’t have the financial capacity, they don’t have enough doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians that have to be part of the whole package to respond. A simple thing like PPE, protective clothing, they do not have them.”
8. Cutaway, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director-General - Health Security:
“It is important to reach out to the communities, to engage them. To use all sorts of variety of ways to do this. So for example, in communities there are many opinion leaders, they may be religious leaders, they may be local leaders, but they are people who really shape the understanding and perspectives of communities and it is important to reach out to them so that people really understand that this is not a mysterious disease and what are the proper steps that can be done to protect themselves and others.”
10. Cutaway, journalists
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director-General, Health Security:
“Countries should ensure that the burials and funeral rites are conducted in accordance with health regulations to reduce the risk of infection, they should be done with professional teams to help them to make sure that things are done safely, but they should also be done in a way which is culturally sensitive.”
RECENT – WHO - 10 JULY 2014, MONROVIA, LIBERIA
12. Various shots, JFK treatment centre, nurses and assistants preparing for the arrival of new patients. Health workers wearing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), spraying areas where previous patient went through, staff drying up protective equipment.
The United Nations (UN) World Health Organization (WHO) today (8 Aug) declared the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa an international public health emergency, saying: “our collective health security” depends on urgent support for containment in the affected countries.
“I am declaring the current outbreak of the Ebola a public health emergency of international concern,” WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan told a press conference in Geneva, endorsing the unanimous recommendation made by Emergency Committee of International Experts on the current Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and which has now spread to Nigeria.
As of 4 August 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to Ebola in the four countries stands at 1, 711, including 932 deaths.
WHO said the disease if affecting only a small part of the African continent, but the head of the UN health agency said there is “a clear call for international solidarity” to boost the capacity if the countries currently affected.
For example, the Executive Committee said: “It is essential that a strong supply pipeline be established to ensure that sufficient medical commodities, especially personal protective equipment (PPE), are available to those who appropriately need them, including health care workers, laboratory technicians, cleaning staff, burial personnel and others that may come in contact with infected persons or contaminated materials.”
Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Security who joined Dr. Chan at the press conference noted that fear and misinformation were contributing to the current outbreak, and reassured his audience, saying that Ebola can be contained.
Ebola “is not mysterious,” Dr. Fukuda said. “This is an infectious disease that can be contained.”
Regarding the issue of temporary travel bans, the Committee declared that there should be no general ban on international travel or trade but recommended restrictions regarding the Ebola-affected travelers.
WHO has scheduled to convene a panel of medical ethicists to explore the use of experimental treatment in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Currently, there is no registered medicine or vaccine against the virus, but there are several experimental options under development.
WHO has launched a $100 million Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak Response Plan in West Africa.
WHO says the incubation period, or the time interval from infection to onset of symptoms, is from 2 to 21 days. The patients become contagious once they begin to show symptoms. They are not contagious during the incubation period.