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Guinea finalizes plan to eradicate Ebola by April 15

Xinhua, March 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Guinea's authorities in charge of eradication of Ebola epidemic are putting final touches on an interim plan to end the disease by April 15, 2015, an official source has said.

This is after the initial plan dubbed "Zero Ebola in 60 days," that elapsed on March 10, 2015 failed to yield the desired results.

Fode Tass Sylla, head of communication for the national body charged with fighting Ebola said Sunday the interim plan aims to reinforce the intervention teams in Conakry and neighboring prefectures such as Coyah, Dubreka, Boffa, Kindia and Forecariah.

He acknowledged that targets set by the national team coordinating the fight against Ebola with its partners such as the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders, through the "Zero Ebola in 60 days," had not been met.

One of the reasons given for this "failure" was the resistance and misinformation in some localities, especially in Basse Guinea, in the capital and Dubreka, Boffa, Kindia as well as Forecariah prefectures.

In the mentioned localities, the program to monitor those who had contact with Ebola patients was not successful, and the population has continued to transport infected bodies and carry out unsafe burials of the same, Sylla said.

The national anti-Ebola team therefore plans to carry out the interim plan to eradicate Ebola by using a campaign dubbed "Ebola, that's Enough."

At the same time, the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) last week met with representatives of Guinean political parties to urge them not to "politicize" the issue of the disease in order for the country to end its worst health crisis.

In a statement issued after Thursday's meeting in Conakry, UNMEER said "political parties, both on the government and the opposition sides, agreed on the need for a national meeting to discuss the threat posed by Ebola virus."

The meeting was also attended by religious leaders, herbalists, elders from regions affected by resistance as well as youth and women groups.

In Guinea, Ebola epidemic has killed 1,811 people out of 2,936 confirmed cases since the outbreak of the disease. Endi