N°: 145/2014
1 August 2014 [Abuja-Nigeria]
ECOWAS is cooperating with Member States and international partners to stem the spread of the Ebola virus disease which has claimed more than 720 lives from over 1,000 cases reported in the region, the President of the ECOWAS Commission His Excellency Kadré Desire Ouédraogo has assured.
“We consider it (the outbreak) as a regional security threat and under the directive by our Heads of State and Government to the Commission and the West African Health Organization (WAHO), an Ebola Solidarity Fund has been set up to ensure that all affected countries are supported to rid our region of the disease,” the President said while accrediting the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Gu Xiaojie to ECOWAS during a short ceremony at the Commission’s Abuja headquarters on Friday 1st August 2014.
Most of the casualties from the disease in the region have been reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia with Nigeria recording one death from an imported case last month.
The ECOWAS chief also informed the Ambassador that the leaders of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and World Health Organization (WHO) senior officials were due to meet in Conakry, Guinea today as part of efforts to develop a comprehensive strategy and mechanism to silence the disease.
He assured that necessary measures were being taken at all levels to support Member States in preventive and control initiatives and appealed to community citizens, health authorities and other stakeholders to take individual and collective precautionary measures for the effective management of cases and to stop the deadly virus in its tracks.
Speaking after presenting his Letters of Credence to President Ouédraogo, Ambassador Xiaojie expressed China’s sympathy and solidarity with ECOWAS and the affected Member States, and pledged his country’s support in combating the outbreak.