\"Last Mile in Fight against Ebola Will Be the Hardest,\" Says Senior UN Relief Official

The international community’s mobilization in the global Ebola response has been “very impressive and effective” but efforts to reach zero cases must continue unabated， a top United Nations humanitarian official has confirmed.

Confirming the need for ongoing vigilance， the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today a surge in new Ebola cases this past week， ending a series of declines the agency noted when it reported that the number of new cases in the three hardest-hit countries of Guinea， Liberia and Sierra Leone recently fell below 100 for the first time in seven months.

He also noted that as optimism among Ebola responders grows， a simultaneous shift towards recovery is also taking place with efforts focusing on sending children back to school and rebuilding the local economies that were gutted by the epidemic.

Mr. Ging， who recently visited countries in the Ebola-affected region to assess existing emergency coordination structure， explained to journalists that emergency health workers had undertaken “heroic” efforts in educating communities and treating Ebola patients as “human as possible.”

In Guinea alone， communication remained a “big challenge” with only two per cent of the population owning a television. Moreover， community outreach had encountered much resistance with suspicion and fear breeding misperceptions and misinformation and fomenting， in some cases， acts of violence against the health workers.

Nevertheless， Mr. Ging continued， communities remained mobilized with children returning to school and reclaiming their futures – a key to helping these countries “get back on their feet as soon as possible.”

As a result， he urged donors to remain focused on combatting the disease and maintain “the resolve to stay the course， to eliminate the virus.”

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50007#.VPgKSD9rE_w