NILINAW kahapon ng Department of Health (DoH) na hindi ito nangako na magpapadala ng mga Pilipinong health worker sa mga bansa sa West Africa at kinumpirmang wala pa itong pinal na desisyon “as of the moment” kung magpapadala ng mga Pinoy sa mga bansang tinamaan ng Ebola.
“There was really never a commitment from the Philippine government that we are going to deploy health workers to these countries,” paglilinaw ni Health Spokesperson Lyndon Lee Suy.
“The reason why this came was because we lay down the request coming from the international groups that there is a global call, not only for the Philippines, other countries as well can provide humanitarian assistance to Western Africa…. As of the moment, we are not taking on the call,” dagdag pa ni Suy.
Sa Ebola summit noong nakaraang linggo, sinabi ni DoH Secretary Enrique T. Ona na “probably” ay makapagdedesisyon na ang kagawaran “next week” (ngayong linggo) kung maaari nang pumunta ang mga Pilipino sa mga bansang may Ebola o hindi.
“As of the moment, no. What we would want to do is to focus on the preparedness of the Philippines to the possible threat of Ebola to the country itself,” ani Suy.
Samantala, inihayag naman kahapon ng World Health Organization (WHO) na idedeklara na nitong tapos na ang Ebola Virus disease (EVD) outbreak sa Senegal at Liberia kung walang panibagong kaso na maitatala ngayong Biyernes, Oktubre 17 hanggang sa Lunes, Oktubre 20.
“If there are no new cases of #Ebola in #Senegal this week, WHO will declare the end of the outbreak on 17 October,” pahayag ng WHO sa Twitter.
“If the active surveillance for new cases that is currently in place continues, and no new cases are detected, WHO will declare the end of the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Senegal on Friday 17 October. Likewise, Nigeria is expected to have passed through the requisite 42 days, with active surveillance for new cases in place and none detected, on Monday 20 October," pahayag ng WHO.
Gayunman, sinabi ng WHO na hindi pa nito masasabi kung kailan matatapos ang Ebola outbreak sa dalawa pang bansang apektado nito.
“WHO epidemiologists see no signs that #Ebola outbreaks in #Guinea, #Liberia & #Sierra Leone are coming under control,” tweet pa ng WHO.