Response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa needs around $1 billion so it would not turn into a “human catastrophe”, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday, as cases are predicted to grow exponentially every three weeks.
Doctors Without Borders said global response has fell short of what is needed to address the crisis, says the Associated Press, even as President Barack Obama announced the U.S. will deploy 3,000 troops and build 17 more treatment centers in Liberia, where cases have spiraled because of the lack of medical facilities and supplies.
“The response to Ebola continues to fall dangerously behind,” Dr. Joanne Liu, president of organization, told a U.N. special briefing on Ebola in Geneva.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”– Joanne Liu” author_title=”President, Doctors without Borders”]
The window of opportunity to contain this outbreak is closing. We need more countries to stand up, we need greater deployment, and we need it now,
[/quote]
Experts say the outbreak is the worst health crisis in modern times. Out of the 5,000 recorded Ebola cases, almost half half ended in death. The outbreak is expected to last years and spread to other countries if not controlled quickly, said Beth Bell, Director of The National Center For Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kent Brantly, the American doctor who contracted the disease in Liberia and was cured using an experimental drug, urged senators to act quickly, USA Today reported.
“From the time I fell sick, just two months ago, the death toll has tripled,” Brantly said during a Senate panel’s hearing on Ebola. “In nine months down the road, we are looking at hundreds of thousands, not just in cases, but deaths.”
