ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Counci : Secretary-General Tells World Health Organization Executive Board Strategy to End Ebola Outbreak Is Working, Urging Enhanced Preparations for Future Pandemics

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's message to the World Health Organization Executive Board Meeting on Ebola, in Geneva, Switzerland, today:

I am pleased to send greetings to this important meeting.  The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is a complex crisis with profound economic and humanitarian dimensions.  The virus has infected more than 21,000 people, and claimed some 8,500 lives.  The people of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been severely affected, and they have asked the world to come to their assistance.

A diverse coalition of Governments, civil society organizations, development banks and philanthropic foundations continues to help the affected countries stop the spread of this cruel disease.

The United Nations system - combined with the World Health Organization's strategic perspective - has had a central role in mobilizing and deploying funds and resources, through the essential short-term coordination provided by the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response.

As we enter 2015, the evidence is clear: the strategy to end the outbreak is working.  Thanks to national leadership and community action, backed by material, human and financial support from the international community, the number of new cases is declining.  We are now seeing the outbreak evolve into multiple distinct epicentres, each with its own character and corresponding needs.  The global response must evolve accordingly, bringing appropriate resources to bear in remote rural settings, densely populated urban centres and locations close to national borders.

This second phase of the response is designed to consolidate advances and increase intensity in areas where more dedicated and nuanced action is required to hunt down and defeat the virus.  The goal is to track and contain Ebola until there are no cases anywhere.  Ending the outbreak will require sustained commitment from the global coalition of actors.  The United Nations system - with technical leadership of the WHO [World Health Organization] - will continue to work closely with the affected Governments and all partners in the global response to achieve this objective.

As we strive to end the outbreak, we must also draw the right lessons for the future.  Migration, urbanization, population growth and growing pressure on natural habitats mean that increasing numbers of people are exposed to animal-to-human transmission of disease.  Although the world has successfully addressed threats such as SARS and avian influenza, this latest - and largest ever - Ebola outbreak has highlighted weaknesses, not just in fragile developing countries, but in the global institutional machinery for identifying and quickly neutralizing health hazards.

We must ensure that the UN system has the capacity to prepare for and respond to future outbreaks and that health-care systems around the world have the capacity to withstand such shocks.

I count on the vision and expertise of the WHO Executive Board to not only consider the steps needed to end the transmission of Ebola in West Africa, but to adopt policies and structures to prepare for future pandemics.  I also urge United Nations Member States to ensure that this indispensable organization has the resources it needs.  I wish you a constructive and fruitful meeting.