Public Health Emergencies: UN's Response to Ebola Outbreak Essay

This essay delves into the crucial role of the United Nations in managing public health emergencies, with a specific focus on its response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The essay begins by highlighting the profound impact that public health emergencies can have on human populations, emphasizing the need for timely and effective responses. It then provides an overview of the UN's structure and its specialized agencies, underscoring their collective efforts in addressing social and economic challenges, including health crises. The essay examines the UN's declaration of the Ebola outbreak as a threat to international peace and security, followed by the deployment of an emergency health mission. It discusses the health needs of affected individuals, emergency management principles, and challenges faced, such as the unprecedented nature of the outbreak, its rapid spread, and the impact on healthcare services. Furthermore, the essay explores the UN's collaborations with other organizations like the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, and the United Nations General Assembly, highlighting their contributions to the management of the crisis. It concludes by assessing the effectiveness of the UN's interventions, considering factors like minimizing the impact on the affected population and curbing the spread of the virus, ultimately concluding that the interventions were largely successful.

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES 1
PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES
Name of Student
Institution Affiliation
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

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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

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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

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healthcare workers have been affected by a high number of deaths being reported. Similarly, a
substantial geographical area affected posed a significant challenge in active management by
increasing the risk of further spread. The weak healthcare systems in the affected countries were
also a major setback in the effective management of Ebola in West Africa (Shoman, Karafillakis
& Rawaf, 2017).
Collaboration is an integral aspect of successful emergency management. In managing
cases of Ebola in West Africa, the United Nations collaborated with other actors such as the
World Health Organization, United Nations General Assembly and United Nations Children’s
Fund. The World Health Organization played a major role in the management of Ebola outbreak.
The involvement of World Health organization through an emergency meeting in 2014 led the
rise of a collaborative strategy used in the management of the emergency (Gatherer,2014). The
collaborative approach played a major role in the coordination of technical Support involved in
the fight against ebola. Additionally, the World Health organization determined the budget
required in dealing with the crisis and published a roadmap for the response.
Additionally, the United Nations Children’s Fund played a significant role in the early
efforts of detection and management of Ebola cases. In particular, the body made effective use of
community-level interventions to stop the spread of the disease (Koenig, Majestic & Burns,
2014). Additionally, it was also tasked with the responsibility of reviving and strengthening
healthcare systems of the affected countries. Finally, its efforts in halting the spread of the virus
in countries that were not yet affected also played a leading role in the management of ebola
outbreak (Joob & Wiwanitkit, 2014).
Finally, The United Nation’s General Assembly solicited support from its member's
states to facilitate effective management of the crisis. Through its efforts, the United Nation’s

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mission for Ebola emergency response received substantial support from United Nation’s
member countries (Burci & Quirin, 2015).
The success of emergency response interventions used in ebola management may be
analyzed through several factors. These include the minimization of the impact on the affected
population and the curbing of the spread. Form the overall implications of the interventions used
by the United Nations. It can be concluded that its interventions were quite effective. By
collaborating with other players, funds needed for the mission were easily raised. It, therefore,
hastened the process of managing the health emergency. Additionally, the interventions used also
minimized the spread of the virus in other countries and finally led to the suppression of the virus
by 2016 (Wilson,2017).
In conclusion, the United Nations in collaboration with other players played a major in
the management of ebola outbreak in West Africa. The process began with the declaration of the
deadly virus as a threat to international peace and security. The outbreak of the virus led to the
need for emergency medical care for the affected populations. However, the weak healthcare
systems of the West African countries, as well as the fast spread of the, posed a significant
challenge in the management of the Ebola emergency. However, based on the positive outcomes
associated with the involvement of the United Nations in its response, the interventions can be
said to have been quite successful.

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