Highlights
As of 22 October 2014, the cumulative number of laboratory confirmed Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases is 3,345. The number of confirmed deaths is 1,001 with 710 survivors.*
Of the EVD confirmed cases, around 22 percent are children and youth (0-17 years), with more than 70 child survivors. To date, 2,220 children have been identified as being affected by the Ebola crisis (1,100 girls and 1,120 boys), including 674 children who have been orphaned.**
With the support of UNICEF, 36 adult Ebola survivors were brought together in Kenema for the first Survivors conference. The conference provided an opportunity to share experiences, receive psychosocial support and discuss reintegration challenges, such as stigmatization within families and communities.
The President announced on 18 October 2014, that the Minister of Defence would head a new National Ebola Response Centre.
A UNICEF charter flight arrived on 20 October 2014, with around 59 metric tons of supplies. To date, UNICEF has chartered seven flights with over 392 metric tons of supplies, funded by DFID and the World Bank.
Funding is urgently needed to scale-up UNICEF’s response to the crisis; over 52 percent of the US$ 61 million appeal remains unfunded.