Leaked Draft WHO Document Faults ‘Nearly Everyone’ For Slow Ebola Response; Agency Will Not Comment Until Final Document Complete

News outlets report on a leaked internal draft WHO document that faults the agency’s and others’ response to the Ebola epidemic.

Associated Press: Mission Unaccomplished: Containing Ebola in Africa
“Looking back, the mistakes are easy to see: Waiting too long, spending too little, relying on the wrong people, thinking small when they needed to think big. Many people, governments and agencies share the blame for failing to contain Ebola when it emerged in West Africa. … Many of the missteps are detailed in a draft of an internal World Health Organization report obtained by the Associated Press. It shows there was not one pivotal blunder that gave Ebola the upper hand, but a series of them that mounted…” (Marchione, 10/18).

CNN: WHO to review Ebola response amid criticism of its efforts
“The World Health Organization vowed Saturday to make public a full review of its response to the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa once the crisis is under control…” (Sanchez, 10/19).

The Hill: Internal document faults global health agency in Ebola response
“…The document blamed ‘nearly everyone’ trying to respond to the outbreak for missing ‘some fairly plain writing on the wall.’ ‘A perfect storm was brewing, ready to burst open in full force,’ the United Nations agency claimed in an early draft of a timeline of the crisis that has yet to be released to the public…” (Hattem, 10/18).

Reuters: WHO promises analysis of Ebola response, won’t comment on reported flaws
“…The WHO said in a statement that it would not comment on an internal document cited in an Associated Press story on Friday, saying it was a first draft that had not been fact-checked and was ‘part of an on-going analysis of our response’…” (Miles, 10/18).

USA TODAY: WHO not commenting on critical leaked Ebola report
“…WHO’s response Saturday made clear the memo was the first draft from a small team documenting the chronology of the Ebola outbreak for future review…” (Alexander, 10/18).

WHO: WHO response to internal Ebola document leaked to media
“…WHO believes in transparency and accountability and will release this review when it is fact-checked. For now, WHO’s focus is to obtain the resources needed to successfully fight this Ebola outbreak…” (10/18).

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