奧巴馬呼吁全球共同應(yīng)對埃博拉
周二,美國總統(tǒng)巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)警告說,,全球必須盡快行動,,抗擊埃博拉帶來的威脅。與此同時,,為了控制埃博拉病毒的蔓延,,美國向西非派遣了3000名士兵。
在醫(yī)療衛(wèi)生官員警告說埃博拉病毒死亡人數(shù)可能會急劇上升之際,,奧巴馬表示:“局面正在逐漸失控,。情況正變得越來越糟。病毒的蔓延正在呈指數(shù)式加速,。”
他說,,埃博拉病毒在美國蔓延的可能性極低,。然而,“如果這些(西非)國家崩潰,,經(jīng)濟陷入崩潰,,民眾陷入恐慌”,埃博拉將對全球安全造成威脅,。
就在美國推出這一舉措之際,,聯(lián)合國(UN)曾警告說,埃博拉疫情正在惡化,,近2500人死亡,,將近5000人感染。世界衛(wèi)生組織(WHO)警告說,,死亡人數(shù)可能會每三周翻一番,,表明該病毒依然處于失控狀態(tài)。
美國提供的援助是今年2月病毒在幾內(nèi)亞偏遠地帶爆發(fā)以來,,最為重要的外來援助,。自埃博拉爆發(fā)以來,,該病毒的發(fā)作一直集中在幾內(nèi)亞,、利比里亞和塞拉利昂。除此以外,,尼日利亞和塞內(nèi)加爾也曾出現(xiàn)少量病例,。
白宮表示已撥款1.75億美元應(yīng)對這一危機,他們還將在利比里亞的蒙羅維亞設(shè)立埃博拉疫情指揮中心,,幫助培訓醫(yī)護人員及建設(shè)新的治療中心,。
奧巴馬表示:“這是一次全球性威脅,需要真正的全球應(yīng)對,。”他是在亞特蘭大的美國疾病控制預(yù)防中心(US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)發(fā)表這番講話的,,該中心在這次應(yīng)對埃博拉病毒的過程中扮演著核心角色。
他敦促國際組織提高響應(yīng)速度,,并呼吁各國政府貢獻更多人力,、醫(yī)療設(shè)備和資金。
WHO助理總干事布魯斯•艾爾沃德(Bruce Aylward)表示,,全球正面臨一場“前所未有的”公共衛(wèi)生危機,。
他說:“我們不知道此次事件中的各項數(shù)字將達到什么樣的規(guī)模。”他補充說,,即使“大幅提高響應(yīng)速度”,,感染病例的數(shù)目也可能達到數(shù)以萬計的地步。
聯(lián)合國埃博拉疫情資深協(xié)調(diào)員戴維•納巴羅(David Nabarro)博士表示,,估計受影響國家應(yīng)對疫情成本已達10億美元,,這一數(shù)字是一個月前估計的10倍,。而那些國家目前只撥付了很小的部分。
納巴羅表示:“一個月前,,我們所要求的資金大約為1億美元,,如今已變成10億美元。也就是說,,我們所要求的資金在一個月內(nèi)翻了10倍,。”
白宮方面并未說明被派往西非的美國軍方人員將在那里停留多久,不過WHO曾表示疫情可能會再持續(xù)6到9個月,。
“無國界醫(yī)生組織”(Médecins sans Frontières)是少數(shù)在西非與這種病毒做斗爭的非政府組織之一,。此前該組織曾表示,也許動用軍方生化部隊才是阻止疫情蔓延的唯一途徑,。
此外,,美國政府還呼吁聯(lián)合國安理會(UN Security Council)本周召集緊急會議,協(xié)調(diào)對該地區(qū)的援助,。美國駐聯(lián)合國大使薩曼莎•鮑威爾(Samantha Power)表示,,埃博拉疫情可能會“讓西非國家遭受一代人的倒退”。
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Obama calls for global response to Ebola
The world must act fast to fight the global threat posed by Ebola, President Barack Obama warned on Tuesday as the US deployed 3,000 soldiers to west Africa to contain the outbreak.
“It’s spiralling out of control. It is getting worse. It’s spreading faster and exponentially,” Mr Obama said as health officials warned that the death toll could rise sharply. “We have to act fast.”
The chances of an Ebola outbreak in the US were extremely low, he said, but the disease would pose a threat to global security “if these [west African] countries break down, if their economies break down, if people panic”.
The US move came as senior UN officials warned the outbreak was worsening with almost 2,500 dead and close to 5,000 people infected. In a sign that the virus remains out of control, the World Health Organisation warned that the number of dead was likely to double every three weeks.
The US offer of help is the most significant since the outbreak erupted in a remote region of Guinea in February. Since then, the virus has been concentrated in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Two other countries – Nigeria and Senegal – have had a small number of cases.
The White House said it had already committed $175m to address the crisis and would set up an Ebola command centre in Monrovia, Liberia, to help train healthcare workers and build new treatment centres.
Speaking in Atlanta at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is playing a central role in the response, Mr Obama said “this is a global threat, and it demands a truly global response”.
He urged international organisations to move faster and called on governments to contribute more personnel, medical supplies and funding.
Bruce Aylward, assistant director-general of the WHO, said the world was facing a health crisis “unparalleled in modern times”.
“We don’t know wher the numbers are going on this,” he said, adding that even with “a much faster response” the number of cases could reach the tens of thousands.
Dr David Nabarro, senior UN co-ordinator for Ebola, said the estimate of how much it would cost the countries affected to tackle the disease had jumped tenfold to $1bn from a previous estimate just a month ago. only a fraction has been committed by countries affected.
“The amount for which we requested was about $100m a month ago and now it is $1bn, so our ask has gone up 10 times in a month,” Dr Nabarro said.
The White House did not say how long the US military personnel would remain deployed in west Africa, but the World Health Organisation has said in the past that the outbreak could last another 6-9 months.
Washington’s move came after a rare call by the aid group Médecins Sans Frontières, which has a long history of battling Ebola elsewher in Africa, for the mobilisation of western countries’ biological warfare units.
MSF, one of the handful of non-governmental organisations fighting the virus in west Africa, said the use of military biohazards units was probably the only way to stop the spread of the disease.
Washington has also called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council this week to co-ordinate international help for the region. Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN, said the epidemic could “set the countries of west Africa back a generation”.
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