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THE NUMBER OF Ebola cases will triple to 20,000 by November if efforts to combat the virus are not radically stepped up, the World Health Organisation has warned.
The virus has already killed 2,800 people in West Africa.
Christopher Dye, WHO’s head of strategy, told the AFP that if the epidemic is not stopped soon “this is going to turn from a disaster into a catastrophe”.
The WHO study, carried out with the Imperial College in London, forecast that if no significant action is taken the number of confirmed and probable cases by November will be 5,925 in Guinea, 9,939 in Liberia and 5,063 in Sierra Leone.
“We’ve rather modestly only extended the projections to November 2, but if you go to … January 2, you’re into hundreds of thousands,” Dye stated.
The United Nations is seeking to raise nearly $1 billion to defeat the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola, which the Security Council has declared a threat to world peace.
Yesterday the Irish government announced it had committed to donating €600,000 to tackle the spread of the deadly virus.
Members of the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Health are set to meet with NGOs tomorrow to discuss the Irish reaction to the Ebola outbreak.
Pat Breen, Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs, said that the meeting, which can be watched here, would provide “a timely opportunity for our Committee to assess the severe impact of the Ebola virus in West Africa with representatives from Goal and Médecins Sans Frontières”.
“It also affords members the chance to hear for themselves the actions being taken by our own statutory bodies.
“Committee Members will be keen to explore the courageous work being done by both NGOs in the affected region, and look forward to assessing what further actions are required – both on the ground and at international level – to tackle and eradicate this devastating virus.”
Additional reporting: AFP
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Amazing list of accomplishments for someone who is only 42
And to think, if her parents had stayed in Ireland, she could have risen through the ranks of the ICA to become a Branch Secretary or even the lady that does the roster for cleaning the church.
Congrats to her.
Will she condemn the US actions in the Middle East as terrorism?
Nope. She’s a cheerleader. She wouldn’t be where she is if she’d gone around telling the truth!
Sounds like a lot of this administration. Divide the country more and blame the republicans.
As a famous man once said, “Bush is gone”.
she called Hillary a monster :-) good appointment imo
This is the same woman that wrote a book entitled “A problem from hell”. The premise of the book was that the U.S. didn’t intervene enough in another countries affairs.
Correct. She is a major proponent of ‘humanitarian intervention’ – a vile euphemism.
Yeah like those terrible times when they intervened in Somalia to try and protect the food supply to millions of starving people or when they went into Bosnia and kosovo to stop ethnic cleansing. How dare they!
You obviously haven’t watch the film ‘The whistleblower ‘ starring Rachel Weisz . True story .
Peter — Can I interest you in a second-hand car?
Oh you’re hilarious Petr. Why don’t you entertain us with stories of the fantastic human rights record of your heros in Russia, China and North Korea then?
Anyone who actually read the book couldn’t but agree that the delays in intervention documented in the book were mistakes.
But if you’d also read other books and used your own head you might arrive at your own independent conclusion.
@ Peter: Somalia was a long, long way from an attempt to “protect the food supply to millions of starving people”. They didn’t even arrive at the right time or place to prevent the famine – the US (technically the UN, but the US were the largest contingent) went to Mogadishu, while the famine was close to the Kenyan border. (It was also mostly over by the time they arrived.) Instead, they ended up being drawn into the Somali civil war and, at one point, bombed a meeting of Somalis and killed 50 of them in an attempt to kill a Somali warlord. It was a utter debacle, and a terrible example to use if you’re trying to discuss the benefits of humanitarian intervention.
If the ruling classes of powerful states started acting altruistically to ‘save’ people here and there it would be the first time this has ever happened in human history.
Powerful states and other powerful entities tend to behave in a way that protects their own narrow interests. Morality and humanitarianism have literally no place in a discussion of international relations. Those who, against all evidence, believe otherwise or at best deeply naive.
maybe the US ad other countries UK, France etc had aleady intervened and that was parrt of progrma
problem^ sorry for typos
@Peter Gavin
the fact that other countries have a sbad o worse Human rights than USA is no argument to be joyous about the Human Rights in US – which are being removed with Patriot Act and NDAA – and increasing survelliance of the population .
As for interventions – the US record of interventions is disastrous both by themselves and by proxy from Vietnam , to Chile , Chagos Island , Phillipines , Iraq , Afgahistan . Its a long list – like all imperialists they leave behind death and destruction .
IF USA is so great – why dont they stay at home – they dont as they need to rob other countries to maintain their declining [ for the majotity ] standard of living .
taken from John pilgers site – latest article
”The “mess” left by George Bush and Tony Blair in Iraq is a sectarian war, the bombs of 7/7 and now a man waving a bloody meat cleaver in Woolwich. Bush has retreated back into his Mickey Mouse “presidential library and museum” and Tony Blair into his jackdaw travels and his money.
Their “mess” is a crime of epic proportions, wrote Von Sponeck, referring to the Iraqi Ministry of Social Affairs’ estimate of 4.5 million children who have lost both parents
full article
http://johnpilger.com/articles/from-iraq-a-tragic-reminder
”
I love the assumption that if you oppose the US’s foreign policies you must be an ardent supporter of Russia, China, North Korea etc. Can’t I hate everyone?
@aoife but the food aid was being delivered into the port of mogadishu and then intercepted by aidid and other warlords so that’s where the un forces needed to be
@ Jim I’m not trying to portray the US as some paragon of virtue and I disagree with some of their actions certainly but they are dammed if they do and dammed if they don’t. Anytime they intervene somewhere they are condemned as imperialists but if they don’t then they are condemned as aloof and uncaring usually with jibes that there is no oil so they don’t care. Well there was no oil in Somalia or Bosnia or kosovo but they acted while Europe wrang it’s hands and did nothing. I remember the horror here when we saw the killing begin in kosovo but there were no protests against the Serbs. However the second The US started to bomb Belgrade there were demos from the usual left wing in Ireland against the Americans despite the fact that they were trying to stop the sort of ethnic cleansing seen in Bosnia. I just hate the knee jerk anti Americanism that is so common here despite them being a good friend to this country and all the ties of blood and culture
I love the assumption that if you oppose the USâs foreign policies you must be an ardent supporter of Russia, China, North Korea etc.
” They are condemned as being aloof ”.
Now that is one word I have never heard about US . They go in guns blazing – unlike the Chinese – who do business .
as for kosovo – again I refer to John Pilger – one of the few real investigative journalists left on Planet Earth http://www.labournet.net/balkans/9911/pilger.html
the fact that there is no oil – well its not always about Oil – but Power and control
What the heck did they do in Indonesia – the great eperiment in New World Order .
Why did they bomb Laos – the most bombed country on Planet Earth .one could give many examples of US inetrference .- Why do they train death squds – to do their killing in other coutries eg Honduras
the whole thing is sickening .They are a Terrorist nation with a Terrorist Foreign Policy – and this woman is now part of it – hardly something to be proud of .
Having it her way theyd probably have nuked the entire planet. But then they’d run out of people to terrorize.
Mistake thinking a government can’t be a terrorist. Pity the British didn’t wipe the Americans out centuries ago….
She wrote a great biography of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN diplomat who was killed in Iraq just after the invasion in 2003. Not sure if her support for the intervention in Libya is something to boast about though. Time will tell.
Her article about the Clinton Administration’s lack of reaciton to Rwanda genocide, published in The Atlantic, is very good. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/09/bystanders-to-genocide/304571/
Obama have Irish roots so he taking care of his Irish families , love it
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