The African Union, African Development Bank and regional business leaders have set up a $28 million crisis fund to help areas hit by the Ebola outbreak, the AU said in a statement. From AFP:
“While the global response to the current crisis has increased in recent weeks, there is still a critical need for additional competencies to care for those infected, strengthen local health systems and prevent the disease spreading,” the AU said.
It said the pledging meeting was attended by leaders from the banking, telecommunications, mining, energy, services and manufacturing sectors from across Africa.
“They agreed to establish a fund under the auspices of the African Union Foundation through a facility managed by the African Development Bank, to boost efforts to equip, train and deploy African health workers to fight the epidemic,” it said.
The companies also pledged “logistical support” and “in kind contributions” to help the relief effort, and the AU said it was expecting more pledges in the coming days.
It said the funds would be used to “support an African medical corps –- including doctors, nurses and lab technicians –- to care for those infected with Ebola, strengthen the capacity of local health services and staff Ebola treatment centres in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.”
—————————————-
Global Health and Development Beat
Chinese President Xi Jinping is promising $40 billion to help Asian nations improve trade links in a new effort to assert Beijing’s ambitions as a regional leader.
Relatives of Ebola patients in Sierra Leone criticized hospitals for rejecting sick people and not moving fast enough to tackle the outbreak.
The UN secretary-general’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Bangura, expressed alarmed over allegations of mass rape of 200 women and girls in Tabit, North Darfur.
The MDC Renewal Team urged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s government to quickly resolve the doctors’ strike to avoid further crippling the health delivery system and loss of lives.
Ebola continues to ravage West Africa and has claimed almost 5,000 lives. Germany’s special representative on Ebola, Walter Lindner tells DW the emphasis now should be on defeating the virus, not on past omissions.
Health officials in the Gambia briefed journalists on the introduction of the HPV vaccine in the country and how it will help prevent cervical cancer in women and girls.
The livelihoods of vulnerable families, including the poor and internally displaced, in the self-declared independent republic of Somaliland have been hard hit by steep rises in the price of charcoal, the main fuel for cooking in the region, reports IRIN.
At the end of a three-day visit to Sierra Leone, during which she met with government officials and key actors in the fight against Ebola, the WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin called upon partners all over the world to work together to address the critical needs of those affected by the health crisis.
—————————————-
Buzzing in the Blogs
While there is some promising recent news, the Ebola fight is far from over, says UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon in the Washington Post. He writes:
Recent history has proved that caseloads have risen and declined only to shoot up again. That is a familiar pattern of outbreaks. Meanwhile, we know that even one case can ignite an epidemic. A gap anywhere in the response leaves space for the virus to spread disease, kill people, destroy families and threaten the world.
The most effective way to neutralize the threat of Ebola is to end the outbreak at its source. The U.N. system is coming together with many partners in support of the affected countries. The U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response — the first such emergency health mission — is galvanizing work on the front lines.
The short-term goal is clear: Rapidly isolate and treat 70 percent of new cases and ensure that at least 70 percent of burials are safe. This 70-70 strategy is the only way to break the exponential curve of infection.
The long-term goal is equally clear: zero cases in all countries. Getting there will require sustained hard work, resources and a commitment to address the underlying causes of the epidemic, most notably by strengthening health systems.
We are on the right track. Governments and communities in the region are combating the virus. Dozens of countries have stepped up with life-saving contributions. The United Nations is also partnering closely with regional organizations such as the European Union and the African Union, which is mobilizing medical professionals and health-care volunteers from throughout the continent. But huge gaps remain in funding, equipment and, most urgently, medical personnel.
There is no time to lose. What began as a public health emergency is now a complex crisis with profound social, economic, humanitarian, political and security dimensions.
—————————————-
Capital Events
Monday
8:30 AM – Science Policy Breakfast Seminar: Informing Science Policy Deliberation – ASU Consortium
12:00 PM – Post-ISIS Iraq: Challenges and Prospects – SAIS
Tuesday
6:00 PM – Africa: Crisis or Rise? – SAIS
7:00 PM – A Conversation on USAID’s Women’s Empowerment Initiatives in Afghanistan – Elliott School
Wednesday
8:00 AM – 2014 Global Security Forum – CSIS
9:00 AM – Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education: Lessons Learned from a Decade of Research and Practice in the Asia-Pacific Region – SID
3:30 PM – The Ebola Crisis: U.S. Leadership and International Response (feat. USAID Admin Shah) – Brookings
Thursday
12:30 PM – Launch Briefing: Critical Opportunities to Consolidate Gains in Madagascar – Search for Common Ground
5:30 PM – The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: Life in Biomedical Science – Fulbright Canada
Friday
9:00 AM – Mexico’s Energy Reforms: Tracking Progress – Wilson Center
—————————————-
By Mark Leon Goldberg and Tom Murphy
Subscribe to receive the Daily Impact in your inbox each morning!
Have a news or story tip? Email us at [email protected].
Disclaimer: Opinions presented in this email do not necessarily reflect the views of PSI.
