More international medical workers are needed to fight the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, where more than 2,400 have died from the disease, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Margaret Chan said on Friday in Geneva.
The WHO Director-General welcomed an announcement by Cuba to send 165 doctors, nurses and infection specialists to Sierra Leone for half a year.
Some 170 international medical staff are already active in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the countries at the centre of the epidemic.
“If we are going to go to war with Ebola, we need the resources to fight,” Dr. Chan said.
The number of people infected with the deadly haemorrhagic fever virus has risen to 4,784, according to the UN health agency.
Health services in West Africa have been strained, partly because many health professionals have become infected. Many of them have also stayed away from work because of lack of hygienic protection equipment, security measures and pay.
