$100m plan to control Ebola outbreak

The deadliest recorded Ebola outbreak surpassed 700 deaths across West Africa as the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced dozens of new deaths reported in the last several days.

The director-general of the WHO and presidents of West African nations affected by the outbreak will meet today in Guinea to launch a new joint $100m response plan to try to bring it under control.

Director-general Dr Margaret Chan said: “The scale of the Ebola outbreak, and the persistent threat it poses, requires WHO and Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take the response to a new level, and this will require increased resources, in-country medical expertise, regional preparedness and coordination. The countries have identified what they need, and WHO is reaching out to the international community to drive the response plan forward.”