KENEMA, Sierra Leone (AP) – An investigation by The Associated Press finds the World Health Organization and others made a series of avoidable mistakes in last year’s efforts to curb the devastating Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone – a bungled response that cost lives.
According to internal WHO emails, recordings of teleconferences and interviews with key players, the U.N. health agency failed to organize a rapid response to Ebola even after the epidemic was declared a global emergency last year. As Ebola cases spiked in Kenema, Sierra Leone, WHO officials struggled with problems like defective chlorine and infighting among aid workers, worsened by a leadership vacuum.
Dr. Irwin Redlener, a disaster prevention expert at Columbia University, says there is no question that a better response from WHO could have saved thousands of lives.