Statement by WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan
19 August 2015
On this 12th World Humanitarian Day, 19 August, WHO is drawing the world’s attention to the contributions and sacrifices of health workers who respond to humanitarian crises.
More than a decade since the first World Humanitarian Day, the demands on emergency responders are unprecedented, with 82.5 million people in 37 countries needing humanitarian assistance. The costs, too, are unprecedented, reaching an estimated US$20…
Early next week, WHO will convene a panel of medical ethicists to explore the use of experimental treatment in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Currently there is no registered medicine or vaccine against the virus, but there are several experimental options under development.
The recent treatment of two health workers from Samaritan’s Purse with experimental medicine has raised questions about whether medicine that has never been tested and shown to be safe in people should be used…
GENEVA | 16 September 2014 - WHO welcomes the commitment from the Government of the People’s Republic of China to dispatch a mobile laboratory team to Sierra Leone to enhance the laboratory testing capacity for Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the country.
The contribution comes in response to WHO’s appeal for further assistance to Ebola response efforts in Africa and requests by the government of Sierra Leone. In addition to laboratory experts, the 59-person team from the Chinese Centre for…
WHO welcomes the contribution from the Government of the United States of America to significantly build upon their previous Ebola response in west Africa.
The new commitment provides support to the United Nations and to other international partners to help the Governments of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal in their work to contain this outbreak. Read more
WHO is working to ensure an international health worker who is deployed for the Organization in Sierra Leone and has contracted Ebola receives the best care possible including the option of medical evacuation to another care facility if necessary.
International health workers are an important part of this Ebola response. Even before the Ebola outbreak began, after years of conflict, the area of West Africa most affected by this disease suffered from a weakened and fragile health system with a…
WHO thanks health workers on World Humanitarian Day 2015
WHO to convene ethical review of experimental treatment for Ebola
WHO welcomes Chinese contribution of mobile laboratory and health experts for Ebola response in West Africa
WHO welcomes the extensive Ebola support from the United States of America
WHO-deployed health worker receiving care after testing positive for Ebola