Vertical Markets

Ebola advice welcomed

by Mark Rowe

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa an ‘international health emergency’, describing it as an “extraordinary event”. Meanwhile the medical and security travel consultancy International SOS says that it continues to provide advice to clients during the ongoing outbreak, including those with operations in the affected countries.

Regularly updated information and travel advice is available on a dedicated website, https://www.internationalsos.com/ebola/.

Dr Katie Geary, Medical Director at International SOS said: “International SOS welcomes the comprehensive guidance provided by the World Health Organisation on 8 August. It sends a clear message that the responsibility for responding to this outbreak is a global one whilst underlining that West African nations must not be left to deal with the crisis on their own. The affected countries have been advised by WHO to work closely to secure borders, stop the transmission of cases and increase the availability of medical resources. The declaration of an international health emergency will lead to increased efforts on the ground.

“These guidelines should lead to more effective exit screening at airports and border crossings. This means that business travellers must be absolutely certain they are fit and well to travel. If they are displaying symptoms of any kind of fever, they may automatically be considered as a possible case of Ebola and potentially made subject to any quarantine procedures in place. Organisations do need to take this into consideration when making travel plans and assessing their operations in west Africa. Countries who may have nationals working as medical professionals in the affected areas are also advised by WHO to have plans in place to be able to evacuate these individuals home and care for them if required. Countries located close to the outbreak must have detailed response plans in place, which would include an awareness of when it might be appropriate to declare a state of emergency. Organisations with operations in these countries will need to keep up to date with the latest developments.

“Everyone in these areas needs to take appropriate precautions against infection. The new recommendations provided by WHO can be expected to take effect over the next few weeks. Absolute reductions in case numbers will also be determined by the incubation period and so there will naturally be an interval before results will be demonstrable. International SOS is monitoring this very fast moving epidemic, providing advice and information to its members as well as educational materials for distribution.”

Fora general 2014 ‘health map’ visit – https://www.internationalsos.com/en/files/HealthMap_2014.pdf

For the WHO statement visit – http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2014/ebola-20140808/en/

Some background

According to the WHO the possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus, the intensive community and health facility transmission patterns, and the weak health systems in the most at-risk countries. The current EVD outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013. This outbreak now involves transmission in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

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