UN Ebola chief vows swift progress in fighting outbreak

The UN Ebola mission head, Tony Banbury, told reporters on Tuesday that swift action would be taken in combating the Ebola crisis.

"We don't know how long it will take. We hope to do it as fast as possible and to close the UNMEER (UN Mission on Ebla Emergency Response) as quickly as possible," Banbury said, speaking at the headquarters of the United Nations mission in Accra, Ghana.

Ebola has killed more than 3,000 people out of nearly 6,600 infected, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, since the West African outbreak began in March.

The crisis has overwhelmed local healthcare facilities and prompted the UN and international governments to provide support.

"Seventy percent of infected people need to be under treatment, 70 percent of burials need to be done in a safe way in order to turn this around and we need to do it in 60 days," Banbury said.

"It's an extremely ... ambitious target and the only way it will be achieved is through this international effort," he added,

Banbury said that the international community's response to the "very grave" crisis was a sign that tangible progress was being made in combating Ebola.

Merkel criticizes response

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, sharply criticized the European response to Ebola-stricken West Africa, saying aid must be delivered more quickly.

"We here in Europe have not been strong and fast enough. I would hope that we'll become faster," she said on Tuesday during a visit to schoolchildren in the western state of Hesse, according to Mainz's Allgemeinen Zeitung newspaper.

Over the weekend, a German military plane carrying aid to West Africa was forced to remain in the Canary Islands due to technical problems.

Orphans at risk

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday that thousands of children in West Africa who have lost parents to Ebola face the risk of being shunned by scared or suspicious relatives. At least 3,700 children have seen one or both parents die because of the latest epidemic, with that number expected to double by mid-October, according to UNICEF.

"Ebola is turning a basic human reaction like comforting a sick child into a potential death sentence," said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF's regional director for West and Central Africa. "Orphans are usually taken in by a member of the extended family, but, in some communities, the fear of surrounding Ebola is becoming stronger than family ties."

Many children feel "unwanted and even abandoned" after the death of family members, Fontaine said, adding that urgent special attention and care was necessary.

dr/jr (AFP, Reuters, dpa)