GENEVA/SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- More international medical teams, new beds and testing labs, among other types of aid, are needed to control the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) said here on Tuesday.
Though the disease control is progressing smoothly, the epidemic-hit countries still need international medical, training and support personnel to manage and operate treatment centers, including 500 foreign health workers, said a WHO spokesperson.
As of Oct. 29, the organization had declared a total of 13,540 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and 4,941 deaths, as well as four confirmed cases in the United States with one death and one confirmed patient respectively in Spain and Mali.
Up to 3,262 beds, 16 laboratories and 230 burial teams are needed in the three hardest-hit West African countries, the spokesperson said.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announced Tuesday in Seoul that the bank is working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UN and other multilevel developing banks to create an "epidemic emergency fund" to fight Ebola and other epidemics in future.
Kim said the fund will be like an insurance, with many billions of dollars that would only come into existence if there is an outbreak of epidemic.
The former medical doctor and professor in public health said if cases are caught early and intensive therapy can be provided, the survival rate of Ebola can be very high.
On Thursday, he confirmed an additional 100 million U.S. dollars in funding to be directed towards speeding up the deployment of foreign health workers to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The World Bank estimated that if the Ebola epidemic continues to spread rapidly in these three countries and spills into their neighbors, the two-year regional financial impact could reach 32.6 billion dollars by the end of 2015, dealing a potentially catastrophic blow to already fragile economies.
Kim also thanked China for sending medical responders to the three worst-affected countries, and also thanked South Korea and Japan for their contribution of military, medical personnel and funds to the region.
Since April this year, China, the first foreign country to provide assistance to the affected nations, has delivered four batches of emergency relief materials worth 122 million dollars to those countries.
In addition to providing funds and food, China has also provided disease prevention materials, such as protective clothes and goggles, sprayers, gauze masks, body thermometers as well as temperature monitors.
China has also set up laboratories and holding centers and sent expert groups and medical teams to the affected countries.
Thanks to international efforts, the anti-Ebola fight has been progressing in the planned direction and more and more countries have adopted effective measures.
Health authorities in Liberia said Tuesday that the country had seen falling new Ebola infections in recent weeks. But they cautioned against complacency despite the turnaround.
In Sierra Leone, Minister of Justice Frank Kargbo reiterated on Tuesday that the declaration of the 12-month state of emergency remains in full force, after a doctor died Sunday of the Ebola virus.
The Malian government announced Monday that 108 people who had contact with the first Ebola victim in the country remain under surveillance. Earlier, Mali confirmed its first case of Ebola.
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