Manila (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Margaret Chan has urged the nations of the East and the Pacific Ocean to "strengthen" the defenses against the risk of an outbreak of Ebola. In her appeal launched yesterday, the senior official warned that the world could be at risk and no country should believe itself protected from outbreaks of the disease that has killed thousands of people in recent months.
1.8 billion people live in the Asia-Pacific region, which has revealed its weakness to the
outbreaks of major epidemics in the past which later spread
on a global scale.
These include SARS (severe
acute respiratory syndrome) and the avian flu (H5N1). However,
so far there have been no official cases of Ebola
virus reported, which is instead spreading with
increasing rapidity in many parts of West
Africa.
In a personal
message sent to the annual meeting of healthcare professionals in the Western
Pacific, Chan warns that "this
outbreak highlights as one of the
most deadly pathogens on earth can take
advantage of any weakness in the
health infrastructure." The head of
WHO adds that "in times of crisis" you cannot "build"
systems of prevention, which may "collapse"; a danger even higher in
a historical period when health emergencies occur with "increasing frequency and strength".
To date, over 4 thousand people have died from the Ebola virus in seven countries in the world, since it developed in West Africa earlier this year. The WHO warning was released to at least 37 nations and territories - including China, other Asian nations, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, parts of South-East Asia and the Pacific Islands - including in the Western Pacific.
The local WHO chief Shin Young-soo said that the
occurrence of at least one case in
the region is "almost
certain" to the high volume of traffic of people
for business and tourism. "If Ebola affects
the region - he adds - the
consequences could be enormous ...
We have to face the challenges in an open way, to effectively
counter the disease."
In his speech to the WHO meeting in Manila, Philippine
President Benigno Aquino III confirmed the alert
status of their country, which has a population of 100 million inhabitants: "For the Philippines in particular
- stressed the head of State - the fact
that there are at least 10
million citizens who live and
work abroad makes this kind of
epidemics a source of major concern".