UN Chief: Avoid Ebola Panic And Fear

New York - Urging governments to avoid panic
and fear, UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced plans
on Tuesday to step up the global response to the
Ebola outbreak and bring it under control.
Ban appointed British physician David Nabarro to
be the UN coordinator for Ebola, tasked with
overseeing the world body's strategy as the
death toll from the outbreak topped 1 000.
"We need to avoid panic and fear. Ebola can be
prevented," Ban told reporters at UN
headquarters in New York.
"With resources, knowledge, early action and will,
people can survive the disease.
"Ebola has been successfully brought under
control elsewhere and we can do it here too."
Also Read: ZMapp Ebola drug stock finished
The epidemic that began in Guinea, and spread to
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, has been
described as the worst since Ebola was first
discovered four decades ago.
It has killed 1 013 people, including a Spanish
priest who on Tuesday became the first European
to succumb to the outbreak that began earlier this
year. An American woman infected in Liberia is
recovering in a US hospital.
"In the days ahead, the UN system will further
strengthen the way we are dealing with the
outbreak," the UN secretary-general said.
Also Read: ECOWAS official dies from Ebola in
Nigeria
He cited the urgent need to address the shortage
of doctors, nurses and equipment, including
protective clothing and isolation tents, especially
in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
"We need all hands on deck," said Ban.
The World Health Organisation has authorised the
use of experimental drugs to fight Ebola including
a serum used to treat Spanish priest Miguel
Pajares, who died in a Madrid hospital on Tuesday
after contracting the disease in Liberia.