The UN has warned of a rise in trafficking of the synthetic opioid tramadol across West Africa, as one official revealed it is being found in the pockets of suicide bombers. Seizures of the drug have skyrocketed since 2013, from 300kg (660lb) to more than three tonnes a year, the[…]
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today said West Africa’s Ebola outbreak no longer constitutes an international public health threat, declaring that the 20-month global emergency response is over but stressing that a “high level of vigilance” must be maintained. The Emergency Committee convened by WHO Director-General Margaret Chan[…]
The three countries hit hardest by the Ebola epidemic have recorded their lowest weekly number of new cases for months, according to the World Health Organisation. As the global death toll reached 8,429 out of 21,296 cases reported so far, Sierra Leone and Guinea both saw the lowest weekly total[…]
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says Ebola has brought her country to “a standstill” and that West Africa is at risk of losing an entire generation to the disease. “Across West Africa, a generation of young people risk being lost to an economic catastrophe as harvests are missed, markets are[…]
South Africa is prepared for a potential case of Ebola, the health ministry said on Wednesday. “We have identified 11 hospitals around the country to deal with patients who could be affected by Ebola,” spokesman Joe Maila said. “If anything happens, and someone is discovered to have Ebola, we can[…]
New estimates from the World Health Organization warn the number of Ebola cases could hit 21,000 in six weeks unless efforts to curb the outbreak are ramped up. Since the first cases were reported six months ago, the tally of cases in West Africa has reached an estimated 5,800 illnesses. WHO[…]
The European Union urged the international community Monday to make up for “precious time” lost in the response to the deadly Ebola outbreak in west Africa, calling for more contributions to fight the crisis. “We are behind the curve and for a reason,” EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said[…]
Ebola is threatening the very existence of Liberia as the killer virus spreads like “wild fire”, the defence minister warned Tuesday, following a grim World Health Organization assessment that the worst is yet to come. After predicting an “exponential increase” in infections across West Africa, the WHO warned that Liberia,[…]
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa will not be stopped unless wealthy nations intervene to contain the virus, the head of a leading a medical charity has said. Joanne Liu, of Doctors Without Borders, said on Tuesday that authorities were “losing the battle”, and that the world had ignored the[…]
It has been one of the more bizarre features of a deadly epidemic: a vocal minority in west African society denying that Ebola exists even as family and friends die around them. The outbreak has cut a swathe through the region, killing more than 1,500 people since the start of[…]
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