Urge World Leaders to Move Faster to Contain the Ebola Outbreak

The Ebola crisis in West Africa is steadily spiraling out of control. In a worst-case scenario, the CDC estimates that 1.4 million people could be infected with the deadly virus. At the heart of the outreach in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, there have been quarantines, lockdowns, riots, food shortages and collapsing health care systems. Cases have been reported in Nigeria and Senegal. And the numbers of victims keep growing.

Children and women are bearing the brunt of the Ebola crisis. Ebola is killing women—who often serve as nurses and family caregivers—in much greater numbers than men, making up an estimated 75 percent of all deaths. And 8.5 million children and young people live in the affected areas.

U.S. President Barack Obama has delivered an urgent message that the world is not yet devoting its full attention to the worsening crisis: We are not moving fast enough. We are not doing enough.

UNICEF has been on the ground in West Africa since day one of this outbreak, working with governments and partner organizations, trying to help victims and working to contain the spread of the disease, airlifting essential supplies, training volunteers, and installing water treatment facilities.

Still, the world must move faster if this crisis is to be contained and the CDC’s worst-case scenario is to be averted.

Take action today and urge world leaders and policy makers to respond to the crisis with increased urgency.