MOSCOW, November 4 (RIA Novosti) — World Bank President Jim Yong Kim Tuesday urged Asia to send trained health workers to the West African countries in which the current Ebola outbreak began, saying that border control was not enough to stop the spread of the virus, Yonhap news agency reported.
"Focusing only on border control is not the right response. The world needs to put the fire out because if it doesn't, Ebola could spread to any country, including those here in Asia,” the news agency quoted Yong Kim as saying at a press conference in Seoul.
"I call on countries across Asia to offer trained health workers now to help stop Ebola at its source [West Africa]," he added.
Jing Yong also thanked South Korea for contributing $5.6 million as well as sending about 20 military and civilian personnel to West Africa to aid in curbing the outbreak.
According to the World Health Organization, the total number of confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola Virus disease currently stands at 13,567. Of these 520 are health workers who have contracted Ebola in West Africa.
The current Ebola outbreak began in February in Guinea, later spreading to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone. No official cure is known but several countries are currently working on developing Ebola vaccines, with Russia planning to introduce three vaccines within the next six months.
