LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization is admitting that it botched attempts to stop the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
The U.N. agency blames factors including incompetent staff and a lack of information.
In a draft internal document obtained by The Associated Press, WHO says that “nearly everyone involved” in responding to the outbreak “failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall.”
The document says experts should have realized that traditional containment methods wouldn’t work in a region with porous borders and broken health systems.
The agency acknowledges that, at times, even its own bureaucracy was a problem. It notes that the heads of WHO country offices in Africa are “politically motivated appointments” made by the agency’s regional director for Africa — who doesn’t answer to the WHO’s chief in Geneva.
One of the researchers who discovered the Ebola virus agrees that WHO acted far too slowly. And Dr. Peter Piot says it’s largely because of the agency’s Africa office. He says, “They didn’t do anything.” He says the Africa office is “really not competent.”
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