The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s
Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso
Moeti has said that West Africa is better
prepared to tackle future outbreaks of
Ebola.
In an exclusive interview with VOA, Moeti
noted that Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea
are now able to respond more quickly to
emergencies because of upgrades to their
surveillance, laboratory and health care
systems.
Moeti became head of WHO’s regional office
for Africa in February 2015 at the height of
the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. As the
WHO’s chief troubleshooter in the region,
she told VOA she knew she had to do
whatever was necessary to stop the spread
of this fatal disease.
Ebola had killed more than 11,000 people in
the three most heavily affected West African
countries by the time WHO declared the
transmission of the Ebola virus virtually
over at the end of last year.
Although it acknowledged that the epidemic
was no longer out of control, the WHO
warned the countries to remain vigilant as
flare-ups of the disease were likely to
continue for some time.
“We have had a very prolonged last leg of
getting to zero in this outbreak and we are
not there yet,” said Moeti. But, she added
that Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea have
greatly improved their ability to respond to
Ebola and have proved this in their skillful
management of the occasional flare-ups of
the disease.
“They will able, when they get an
unexpected case in these last few months to
respond and detect it relatively early,
follow-up the contacts and contain the
spread. So, for me, that is one of the best
outcomes of this tragic situation in West
Africa,” said Moeti.
But, she cautioned that all the
improvements made in infrastructure, in
response systems, and in skills training
must be sustained. This, she said, required
the continued support of the international
community.
Moeti stressed that the funding and
expertise that had poured into West Africa
during the Ebola epidemic must hold. “I am
very hopeful that some of the commitments
that were made by the donors during the
time when these countries were talking
about their recovery actually do
materialise,” she said.
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