The current Ebola Outbreak is continuing to break records, as the United Nations just approved its first mission to combat a public health issue in history.
"This is not just a public health crisis. This is a social crisis, a humanitarian crisis, an economic crisis and a threat to national security well beyond the outbreak zones," Margaret Chan, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, told the UN Security Council, according to a news release. "For these reasons, Mr. Secretary-General and I are calling for a UN-wide initiative that draws together all the assets of all relevant UN agencies."
The UN is working with the General Assembly, the Security Council and WHO to resolve the Ebola crisis. The mission is planned to get a better hold on the spread of the disease by combining the funds and programs of several international agencies, according to the release.
The agencies hope their combined efforts will slow down the spread of the disease during a time when nothing else appears to be working.
Today residents from Sierra Leone are emerging from their homes after a three-day lock down that was designed to stop the spread of the deadly disease. The country has seen over 1,500 confirmed cases since the outbreak with 584 of them being reported in the last 21 days.
Officials collected evidence from over one million households during the lockdown and are expected to release the results tomorrow, reports The Associated Press.
