Written By: Pavitra Sampath | Published : October 18, 2014 10:56 AM IST
With the Ebola virus spreading at a rapid rate, the WHO has taken responsibility for the lacunae in the way they tried to halt the spread of the disease. According to an internal report the WHO has accepted that they did bungle up and in that respect, President Barack Obama has decided to enlist a trusted political adviser to take control of America's response to the epidemic.
US officials have been trying to cut off routes of possible infection. This move has come after the early cases in Texas were said to have traveled from one state to another while they were still contagious.
The WHO's report pointed towards all the serious errors made by the agency right from the start of the outbreak, where they missed a chance to curb the spread of the infection when it was first found in Libera, Sierra Leone and Guinea last spring, blaming factors, including incompetent staff and a lack of information. The report also states that the WHO failed to grasp the fact that traditional infectious disease containment methods wouldn't work in region with porous borders and a broken healthcare system.
Detractors also said that the WHO acted too slowly and said that all those who were involved in the initial response failed to see that the disease could spread like wild fire. Adding fuel to the fire, the agencies bureaucracy was also listed as a part of the problem. The report said that the heads of its country offices in Africa are "politically motivated appointments" made by the WHO regional director for Africa, Dr. Luis Sambo, who does not answer to the agency's chief in Geneva, Dr. Margaret Chan.
The WHO also agreed that Dr. Peter Piot, the co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, agreed that WHO acted far too slowly. In a statement Dr Piot said, ' It's the regional office in Africa that's the front line and they didn't do anything. That office is really not competent.'
In response the WHO refused to comment on the document that was not issued publicly. In an effort to remedy matters, Obama has named Ron Klain, a former chief of staff to Vice-President Joe Biden, as the administration's point man on Ebola. Although he does not have any medical or public health expertise, he will serve as the 'Ebola response coordinator'.
Image source: Getty Images
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