GCC Agrees To Unified Plan To Prevent Ebola

posted on: Aug 14, 2014

GCC member states have agreed to a unified plan to prevent the deadly Ebola virus from penetrating the region’s borders, according to Saudi Arabian media.

Health minister from the six member states – UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia – met in Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss training health officials and using regional facilities to diagnose and treat the disease, Arab News reported.

The World Health Organization has declared Ebola an international health emergency.

In a statement on Wednesday, WHO said more than 1 million people had been affected by the outbreak in West Africa, and warned there was “no early end in sight” to the severe health crisis and called for “extraordinary measures” to stop the transmission of the disease.

The organisation said another 56 people had died from Ebola in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone between August 10 and 11, bringing the total number of cases to 1,975 and deaths to 1,069.

Saudi health authorities confirmed last week a Jeddah man, who was initially believed to have died from Ebola did not have the disease.

The kingdom has been particularly concerned about the recent outbreak due to thousands of Muslim pilgrims travelling to the country for the annual Haj pilgrimage. It has suspended visas for people from the infected African countries.

Arab Business
Courtney Trenwith