International communities pledge actions Ebola crisis

The international communities Thursday agreed timely actions and coordination are an urgent need to fight against Ebola epidemic, which has claimed lives of over 3,000 people in West African nations.

A high-level session attended by officials from global organisations, national health agencies, as well as nongovernmental organisations, and heads of state of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with the mission to ramp up global response to the outbreak of the deadly disease in the three West African countries, xinhua reported.

At the meeting, UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged increased resource mobilisation, saying "the best antidote to Ebola is an effective and urgent response."

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim also called for swift actions to contain and stop the Ebola epidemic, warning without quick response, the future of Africa is at stake.

A Chinese official at the session called for reinforced efforts for Ebola vaccines and drugs research and development, in addition to timely response and coordination.

She disclosed China had pledged additional 200 million yuan (about $32) to the Ebola-hit African countries and $2 million in cash each for the World Health Organisation and African Union.

World Bank has predicted that the regional financial impact could reach $32.6 billion by the end of 2015 if the killer disease is not quickly contained in the three West African countries and is to significantly infect people in neighboring countries.

The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa has already infected more than 8,033 people and claimed more than 3,879 lives.