After Ebola, WHO blames governments and seeks more clout

REUTERS   by Tom Miles                              Jan. 13, 2015

GENEVA - The World Health Organization says governments flouted their obligations during the Ebola crisis and wants more power to tackle health emergencies in future, documents published by the international agency showed on Monday.

The Geneva-based U.N. health organisation has been heavily criticised for its slow response to the Ebola epidemic, which has now killed at least 8,371 people out of more than 21,000 cases in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The WHO promised in October to publish a full review of its handling of the outbreak once the epidemic was under control.

But it has not yet done so.

The documents submitted to its 34-nation Executive Board said governments had put International Health Regulations that cover public health risks and disease outbreaks at risk through actions such as closing borders and discriminating against travellers from Ebola-affected countries.

Read complete story.

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN0KM0CU20150113?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0