Role of United Nations in Responding to Ebola in West Africa

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES 1
PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES
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PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES
Public health emergencies may strike at any time and in any part of the world. The
occurrence of an emergency may have a profound impact on human population. Additionally,
public health emergencies may have untold impact on people’s health and wellbeing. For this
reason, timely response becomes a critical component of effective management of public health

PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES 2
emergencies. The United Nations has, for example, played a significant role in the management
of public health emergencies such as the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. This essay aims at
analyzing the role of the United Nations in responding to Ebola in West Africa. Some of the
aspects that will be covered include a description of the United Nations Agency, Public health
needs of Congo, challenges experienced in responding to Ebola emergency, Collaborations with
other agencies and the effectiveness of United Nations Agency response.
Currently, the United Nations has 15 agencies specialized in the provision of assistance in
areas of social and economic endeavor. The agencies work independently but collectively
constitute the United Nations. The United Nations has continued to play a leading role in the
fight against Ebola in Congo and other parts of West Africa(Ourworld,2019). United Nations
social security council makes all decisions relating to the maintenance of international peace and
security, which comprise of 15 member states. Any decision arrived at by the council becomes
binding to all member states.
Following the outbreak of Ebola back in 2014, UN security convened its first emergency
meeting in which the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa was declared a threat to peace and
security (Ourworld,2019). The declaration was later followed by a deployment of an emergency
health mission. To date, the United Nations has continued to play a leading role in combating
Ebola in Congo and other parts of West Africa. As part of management of the Ebola Crisis, a
resolution was arrived at to have all member states contribute human and capital resources to
counter the emergency. Additionally, measures were put in place to prevent further spread of the
disease (Ourworld, 2019).
Before the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, no health emergency of such magnitude had
ever been witnessed. The suffering and consequences of millions of people affected by the

PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES 3
epidemic were quite intense. In any health emergency such as the West African Ebola outbreak,
health services become an integral aspect of successful mitigation. Therefore, some of the health
needs of the affected individuals included treatment, protection from potential infections.
Emergency management principles are based on the phases of emergency mitigation,
preparedness, response and disaster recovery (Oleribe et al.,2015). The mitigation phase entails
the assessment of most potential risks to identify most critical hazards. Emergency Prepared on
the hand involves the enforcement of strategic measures to facilitate successful emergency
response. Similarly, emergency response consists in responding to a disaster after its actual
breakout. Finally, emergency recovery is the process of dealing with the aftermath of the
emergency(Ourworld, 2019).
The 2014 outbreak of ebola in Congo marked the seventh outbreak of the virus in the
country. So generally, there was prior knowledge of the disease before the 2014 eruption
(Waheed, 2014). However, concerning the response principle, the country’s health system was
faced with various challenges including acute shortage of health workers, nurses and doctors and
irregular coverage of primary healthcare services. However, with technical support from the
World health organization, a significant milestone was reached in the management of the virus
(World Health Organization, 2014).
Having been the first case of such magnitude for the United Nations, the management of
the epidemic was characterized by multiple challenges. Notably, the fact that the outbreak of the
virus was unprecedented made its effective response quite daunting (Alexander et al.,2017).
Additionally, the speed at which the epidemic was spreading outmatched the efforts put in place
to manage it (United Nations,2019). The impact of the virus on healthcare services has also been
a significant challenge on the management of ebola virus. A large number of nurses, doctors, and