Sierra Leone revamps response team

BBC Online :Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma has announced a major shake-up of the body in charge of fighting the Ebola outbreak in the country.He said his defence minister would head a new national response centre and report directly to him. The previous team was headed by the health minister.Koroma said people were dying and quick decisions had to be taken. The latest Ebola outbreak has killed about 1,200 people in Sierra Leone, and more than 4,500 across West Africa.In the worst-affected countries – Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone – 9,191 people have been found to have the virus, which kills 70% of those infected, according to the latest WHO figures.Koroma’s office said Sierra Leone’s new National Ebola Response Centre was replacing the previous body – the National Operations Centre – “with immediate effect”.The statement said the new centre would be headed by Defence Minister Paolo Conteh, and would have full powers to combat the disease and ensure a more effective use of aid.A medical worker dons protective gear before entering an Ebola treatment centre in Freetown, Sierra Leone – 16 October 2014 The World Health Organization is ramping up efforts to stop Ebola from spreading elsewhere in Africa The latest crisis in West Africa is the worst-ever Ebola outbreak.The virus was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976. It spreads between humans by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated environments.International donors have given almost $400m (£250m) to UN agencies and aid organisations, following an appeal launched in September for $988m.On Friday, a damning internal report emerged from the UN’s health agency, the World Health Organization (WHO). It found that the organisation had failed to respond in time to a “perfect storm”.The report seen by AP states: “Nearly everyone involved in the outbreak response failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall. A perfect storm was brewing, ready to burst open in full force.”It says that experts should have realised that traditional methods of containing infectious disease would not work in a region with porous borders and poor health systems.The WHO said the document seen by AP was incomplete and had not been checked. A full analysis of its actions would only be completed once the outbreak was under control, it added.