World Bank seeks fund to fight Ebola

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the global reaction to the Ebola virus outbreak is a failure, calling for a $20 billion fund to combat the epidemic.

In an interview with the Guardian, prior to this week's annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, Kim said the global response "failed miserably." With signs indicating the Western world is taking the outbreak more seriously, he said he would seek a global health fund -- underwritten by Western countries-- to react more quickly to emergencies.

The United Nations' World Health Organization noted the number of deaths from the Ebola virus in West Africa stands at 3,879 and is climbing, with instances noted in the United States and Spain. "We were tested by Ebola and we failed. We failed miserably in our response. It's late. It's really late. We should have done so many things. Healthcare systems should have been built. There should have been monitoring when the first cases were reported. There should have been an organized response," he said.

"Now that there are cases in Spain and the U.S., the chance of the virus going to other European countries is fairly high. This was sloppy work on even a slow-moving virus like Ebola. If we have seen this with a slow-moving virus, we are not even close to being ready to deal with a fast-moving virus."

A World Bank study, released Wednesday, indicated the economic cost of Ebola could reach $33 billion within two years if the virus spreads. Britain announced Wednesday all its major hospitals are preparing isolation and treatment units in the event the Ebola virus spreads to their communities.