Ban urges UN system-wide support to WHO's efforts to fight Ebola

United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called for UN system-wide support to the World Health Organization's efforts to fight Ebola.

"This morning the secretary-general chaired a UN system-wide coordination on Ebola," Ban's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters here at the daily briefing.

"He stressed the need for the entire UN system to support the World Health Organization's efforts in combating the outbreak," said Dujarric.

The largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded began in Guinea in December 2013 and spread to other countries in West Africa.

According to the latest update issued Wednesday by WHO, between Aug. 10 and 11, 128 new cases of Ebola virus disease, as well as 56 deaths, were reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, bringing the total number of cases to 1,975 and deaths to 1, 069.

On Tuesday, Ban appointed Dr. David Nabarro as Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Ebola, in support of the work done by WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan and her team to counter the outbreak, which the agency has designated a "public health emergency of international concern."

Dr. Nabarro, who also joined the coordination meeting with the UN chief on Wednesday from Geneva with the WHO director-general, will be responsible for ensuring that the UN system makes an effective and coordinated contribution to the global effort to control the outbreak of Ebola.

Born in London, Dr. Nabarro was qualified as a physician in 1973. In September 2005, he joined the office of the UN Secretary General as Senior Coordinator for Avian and Pandemic Influenza.