By Leigh Sales
The United Nations’ top official charged with stopping the spread of Ebola says foreign medical teams are urgently needed to help contain the virus within Africa.
Anthony Banbury, the head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, told 7.30 he believed authorities were “on the right track” but that more help was required.
“What we need the most are foreign medical teams, trained personnel who can not only work in Ebola treatment units but also manage them in a very strict way to ensure good infection control,” he said.
The Australian Government has so far declined to send military or health workers to Africa because it says it cannot meet its duty of care to people who may become infected.
But Prime Minister Tony Abbott has not ruled the possibility out entirely.
Mr Banbury said exposure to Ebola was a concern for all aid workers but that the ability to provide treatment in the field would soon be drastically improved with a new US-run medical facility in Liberia and a UK-led one in Sierra Leone.
“Once that’s up and running, health care workers or aid responders, international or national, can be confident that they will be getting very high quality medical care if they fall ill,” he said.
Mr Banbury took a veiled swipe at moves in some parts of the US to impose mandatory quarantine on health workers who have returned from working in Africa, even if they show no symptoms of Ebola.
“When foreign workers come and put their lives on the line to save the people in this region but also to protect the people back home… when they return home, [they] should be treated as heroes and not subjected to stigmatisation or unfair treatment.”
Mr Banbury has recently completed a visit to the three affected nations – Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone – to assess the situation.
He said it was uncertain how quickly the disease was spreading, and the UN was not sure what the situation would be in a month’s time.
Watch the interview with Anthony Banbury on 7.30 tonight.