Latest Ebola News: UN commission wants Ebola debts to be cancelled

Addis Ababa, Dec 15: A UN commission is asking for more debt cancellations for the three West African nations hardest hit by the Ebola virus. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa said today that it is crucial that the current Ebola health crisis not be a catalyst for FINANCIAL distress in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. (Read: EU extends aid to fight the Ebola outbreak)

Carlos Lopez, a UN under secretary-general and the executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, appealed in Ethiopia today for loan forgiveness. A new report on the socio-economic impact of Ebola said the overall impact on Africa should be minimal because the three countries account for only 0.68 per cent of Africa's GDP. (Read: More than 2,000 Germans registered as volunteers to fight Ebola)

The report estimates that Ebola's impact on the continent's GDP levels in 2014 and 2015 will be only -0.19 per cent and -0.15 per cent.