October 20, 2014

Kofi Annan disappointed in the West's response to Ebola

editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says the West has been slow to tackle Ebola because it began in Africa.

His tough criticism of the West's response to the crisis highlighted idea that, had the epidemic originated in the US or Europe, the response would likely have been much swifter.

"I am bitterly disappointed by the response... I am disappointed in the international community for not moving faster," Annan told the BBC programme Newsnight.

"If the crisis had hit some other region it probably would have been handled very differently. In fact when you look at the evolution of the crisis, the international community really woke up when the disease got to America and Europe."

Annan said that it should have been clear from the beginning that the disease would eventually spread out of Africa, but Western nations appeared to be putting off making the tough calls.

So far one nurse in Spain has contracted Ebola, along with two nurses in the US who were treating patients who had contracted the disease in Africa.

"I point the finger of blame at the governments with capacity... I think there's enough blame to go around," Annan said.

"The African countries in the region could have done a bit more they could have asked for help much faster and the international community could have organised ourselves in a much better way to offer assistance."

"We didn't need to take months to do what we are doing today."

The World Health Organisation estimates that Ebola could be infecting 10,000 new people each week by December.