The international community must stand united and remain committed to the fight against Ebola. This call was made on Friday by Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group following the United Nations Chief Executives Board Meeting on Ebola. 

"This is a pivotal moment in the world’s worst ever Ebola epidemic. There’s clear evidence of areas of progress, particularly in Liberia, where new cases have declined significantly.  International support is making a difference.  But there’s also evidence that is very worrisome, such as the increase in infections in Sierra Leone and the spreading of the outbreak to Mali”, Kim said in a statement. 

Calling on more investment in the health sector of the Ebola-affected nations he said, " a key element in getting to zero cases will be to invest much more in effective health systems.  These countries need community-based care facilities with well-trained health workers and strong triage, diagnostic, treatment and referral capabilities.  They must be able to do the kind of extensive contact tracing of infected patients that enabled Nigeria and Senegal to get to zero cases.  Doing so will require even more resources, more discipline, and more coordination among the affected governments and international agencies”.

"Even as we focus intensely on the immediate health response, we also must begin planning to help the affected countries back on the road to economic recovery and development.  As soon as possible, we need to get children back in school, farmers back in their fields, businesses back up and running, and investors back into these countries”.