UN chief announces mission to combat Ebola

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Thursday that the world organization will deploy a new emergency health mission to combat Ebola, with the advance team on the ground before the end of the month.
"The Ebola crisis has evolved into a complex emergency, with significant political, social, economic, humanitarian and security dimensions," said Ban during his remarks at a Security Council emergency meeting on Ebola.
"This unprecedented situation requires unprecedented steps to save lives and safeguard peace security," he said. "Therefore, I have decided to establish a UN emergency health mission, combining the World Health Organization's strategic perspective with a very strong logistics and operational capability."
According to the UN chief, the international mission, to be known as the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, or UNMEER, will have five priorities: stopping the outbreak, treating the infected, ensuring essential services, preserving stability and preventing further outbreaks.
"Our goal is to have the Mission's advance team on the ground before the end of the month," Ban told the Council, calling for support from the international community.
"Our best estimate is that we need a 20-fold increase in assistance," said Ban, adding that the United Nations this week outlined a set of critical needs totaling almost 1 billion U.S. dollars over the next six months.
Ban spoke before the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution, sponsored by 131 countries - reportedly more than any other sponsors of a resolution to date in the chamber - " determining that the unprecedented extent of the Ebola outbreak in Africa constitute a threat to international peace and security."
Latest figures from the World Health Organization showed that the total number of Ebola cases in West Africa is 5,335, with 2, 622 deaths.