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Two UN agencies join forces for zero Ebola in W. Africa

Xinhua, March 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Food Program (WFP) are joining forces to bring the Ebola outbreak down to zero in West Africa, a UN spokesperson said here on Wednesday.

This arrangement combines the strength of WFP and WHO's expertise in public health and logistics in a new partnership in the Ebola-affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters here at a daily news briefing.

"Today, more than 700 people are deployed in the Ebola affected countries -- which is more WHO employees than at any other point in the epidemic," he said.

In districts with ongoing Ebola transmission, WFP is ensuring that WHO disease detectives have the resources they need -- computer equipment, phones and stable internet connectivity -- to share information critical to tracking and stopping the virus, Dujarric said.

The WFP is also managing the fleet of rugged vehicles carrying social anthropologists and epidemiologists to isolated villages, he added.

This joint partnership is the response to the directive of WHO' s Executive Board Special Session on Ebola to develop new ways to strengthen health emergency operations.

The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa has affected some 24, 000 people with nearly 10,000 deaths, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Endite