The United Nations said that only one quarter of its $1 billion emergency Ebola appeal has been funded, warning Friday that the speed of contributions must increase 20-fold to match the swift spread of the disease. "We need more, we need much more," U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said at a U.N. General Assembly briefing on the Ebola outbreak Friday. Eliasson appealed to countries to "act generously and swiftly," adding that "a smaller contribution within days is more important that a larger contribution within weeks."
"Every hour counts," said Eliasson, who said that West African countries most affected by the Ebola outbreak are not only struggling to treat and prevent the disease, but also lacking medical staff and supplies to deal with regularly-occurring diseases. "This is an expensive job," said Dr. David Nabarro, a Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General. Every country must contribute, Nabarro said, because “without a global movement, it will be impossible to get this under control, and the world will have to live with the Ebola virus forever.” The warnings came as the World Health Organization said the total number of deaths attributed to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has risen to 4,033.
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— Elisha Fieldstadt
