Reforms planned at WHO to tackel Ebola like crisis in future (Photo : REUTERS/Misha Hussain)
The World Health Organization has stated it is adopting measures that would enable it to better tackle medical emergencies of the scale of the Ebola crisis in future.
Among the steps the United Nation's public health agency stated they are in the process of adopting include means to enhance communication with their partners for a more co-ordinated approach towards handling national and international crisis.
"We did not work effectively in coordination with other partners, there were shortcomings in risk communications and there was confusion of roles and responsibilities," revealed WHO in a statement obtained by Time.
There were 25,791 suspected cases of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone with 10,689 reported deaths.
As part of the eight reforms planned include the creation of an emergence reserve force to be manned by 1,000 individuals as well as the setting up of an emergency contingency fund.
The entire command structure too is be re-laid to ensure better co-ordination among the various groups and faster response times. The reforms proposed in a joint statement released on April 16 also called for implementation of more stringent health guidelines to be followed by all countries. Creation of a rapid response force too is on the cards, Fox News reported.
"We have learned lessons of humility. We have seen that old diseases in new contexts consistently spring new surprises," said the statement, attributed to the WHO Director-General Margaret Chan and the deputy director-general and regional directors.
The organization stated they are well equipped to take on small to medium sized health emergencies though a crisis as big as Ebola clearly revealed the chinks in its armour.
The WHO is accused of being slow and insufficient in its initial response to Ebola and weren't quick enough to alert the world community of the looming dangers of the Ebola epidemic.
