Good morning, Excellencies,
Thank you for giving us your time, your expertise, and your support to get a grip on this epidemic and turn it around.
I thank, most especially, the Secretary-General and President Obama. Both of you have spoken strongly about the need for massively increased support.
This is a fast-moving epidemic that got ahead of everyone at the start and is still running ahead, jumping over everything we put in place to try to slow it down.
Announcements made last week by the US and many other governments have given affected countries the first promise that transformational change will happen.
The same is true for last week’s Security Council and UN General Assembly resolutions.
The UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, or UNMEER, is in full emergency mode. I ask all of you to put yourselves in that same frame of mind.
Every day, every minute, counts.
We need to talk but we also need to act with speed and efficiency and in ways that deal this virus some heavy blows.
You have all seen the photos, the videos, the headlines. Sick and dying patients are being turned away from overflowing treatment centres manned by MSF and other colleagues.
In some areas, no treatment beds are available. None at all.
We cannot build new facilities fast enough. We must try harder. Good quality clinical care saves lives.
For now, the reality on the ground requires us to complement Ebola treatment centres with community-based care, making this as safe and culturally acceptable as possible.
We should expect things to get worse before getting better.
People will continue to struggle to survive and, unfortunately, some will die.
In a humane world, we cannot allow the people of West Africa to suffer so much.
Excellencies,
You have the power to turn this horrific epidemic around.
Thank you.