A thousand Ebola victims; The World Health Organization has declared an international emergency

A special committee of the World Health Organization decided after hearing the representatives of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria to intensify the measures to curb the epidemic in these countries, in the bordering countries as well as in the rest of the world

The World Health Organization declared an international emergency; The number of dead is approaching a thousand

A special committee of the World Health Organization heard the representatives of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria

The International Health Organization announced today (Friday) an international emergency following the Ebola epidemic. This is according to the organization's publications on its website. A special emergency committee of the organization held a telephone meeting yesterday and heard the representatives of the affected countries: Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The representatives of the countries reported on the latest developments in their countries, including the measures taken to implement control strategies and it became clear that there are gaps and challenges in the countries' response to the outbreak.

As of August 4th, i.e. 4 days ago, 932 deaths were recorded out of 1,711 reported cases (of which 1,070 cases were diagnosed as certain, 436 are considered as uncertain and 205 are considered suspicious.
It is the deadliest outbreak ever recorded.
The director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan, called on the international community to help countries affected by "the most serious outbreak we have seen since the virus was discovered four decades ago." Chan said the words after a carrier of the virus that came from West Africa was discovered in Uganda.

Several challenges facing the affected countries:

• Their health systems are fragile, and have significant deficits in human resources, and financial and material resources. As a result, they are forced to compromise in their response to the Ebola outbreak and are unable to control the outbreak.
• lack of experience in dealing with Ebola outbreaks; Misconceptions about the nature of the disease, including how the disease is transmitted, are widespread and will continue to be a major challenge in some communities.
• High mobility of populations and in some cases cross-border movement of passengers carrying infection was allowed;
• Several cases of infection occurred in the three capital cities of Conakry (Guinea), Monrovia (Liberia) and Freetown (Sierra Leone).
• A high number of infections were identified among healthcare workers, highlighting poor infection control procedures in many facilities.

The committee formulated recommendations for the infected countries, the countries that share a land border with them and the rest of the world.
As for the affected countries:

• The heads of state must declare a state of national emergency, provide information to the public about the situation, the steps taken to eradicate the epidemic and the vital role of the community in ensuring rapid control, provide immediate access to emergency funding to initiate and maintain response activity, and ensure that all necessary measures are taken to Transport the essential medical personnel to the required sites.
  Ministers of health and other senior officials in the health systems must show leadership and initiative in coordinating and implementing the emergency response to Ebola. Their officials must meet regularly with the affected communities and visit the treatment centers. The leadership must establish and operate an emergency management system that will operate directly under the heads of state and its role will be to coordinate between all partners from the fields of information, security, finance and other relevant fields, to ensure efficient and effective assimilation to the control of the epidemic.
• In areas with a high rate of infection (on the border of the border areas between Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, high quality medical services must be provided, and measures must be taken to limit the movement of people, and even the establishment of isolation facilities must be considered.
• The states are required to protect the medical workers by providing them with safety measures, paying their salary on time, and even giving them additional risk, as well as appropriate training, including the correct use of personal protective equipment.
• The governments must ensure that the treatment centers include diagnostic laboratories as close as possible to the areas of infection, that these facilities have a sufficient number of skilled personnel and equipment and supplies in large quantities, and that measures are taken to maintain the safety of the medical personnel and to prevent a situation of premature transfer of patients from the treatment centers to more distant locations.
• Governments must place devices to check the medical condition of passengers at border crossings, airports and seaports and report any suspected illness. The travel of patients suspected of being infected with Ebola should be prohibited unless it is a designated emergency evacuation.

Countries that have a land border with the infected countries are required to monitor any accumulation of symptoms accompanied by fever and concentrated in a limited area, and

• Provide access to a quality diagnostic laboratory, ensure that health workers are aware and trained in emergency procedures, as well as provide a rapid response capable of investigating and managing Ebola cases and those in contact with them.
• Every outbreak should be responded to with emergency treatment, and increased monitoring. If the existence of the disease has been confirmed in their territory, they must fill out the entire list intended for countries where an outbreak has occurred at the national or district level, according to the characteristics of the disease, including isolation and other recommendations.

For the rest of the world, the World Health Organization does not recommend a blanket ban on international travel or trade.

• The countries should provide travelers to risk areas with the relevant information about the risks, measures to minimize these risks and advice for managing cases of exposure.
• Countries need to be prepared to identify, investigate, and manage Ebola cases; The measures should include safe access to a certified laboratory for the diagnosis of the Ebola virus (EVD), and the ability to test travelers from Ebola-infected areas who arrive at international airports or major land crossings with an unexplained febrile illness.
• The general public must be provided with the accurate and relevant information about the Ebola outbreak and measures to reduce the risk of exposure.
• The countries must be prepared to contact and return to them subjects (such as health workers) who have been exposed to Ebola.

Following this announcement, the Ministry of Health issued a call to travelers to West African countries to avoid contact with patients, their secretions and belongings. Also, personal hygiene must be observed and contact with animals and their secretions, carcasses and eating meat must be avoided. In addition, the ministry recommended avoiding receiving service at local hospitals in these countries, unless it is an urgent medical problem.

If a fever of more than 38 degrees appears within 21 days after returning to Israel, it is recommended to go to a hospital emergency room and be alerted. "The circumstances of the case must be reported immediately upon entering the hospital in order to receive appropriate protection instructions."

It was also stated in the announcement that the Ministry of Health also contacted the medical institutions in Israel, ordering them to "increase awareness in order to identify suspicious cases early, and prevent the possible spread of the virus." In case of suspicion, the patient should be immediately transferred to isolation. "The ministry does not foresee an outbreak of the disease in Israel, but there may be imported cases, which the health system is prepared to deal with."

to the announcement of the International Health OrganizationTo the previous article: World Health Organization: The Ebola virus is out of control