Ebola: UN to hold high level meet to step up relief operations

United Nations: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will hold a high-level event later this month to spur international efforts to respond to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. [caption id=“attachment_1705175” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A health centre in Sierra Leone. AP.[/caption] UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said today the meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting, which starts on September 24, will highlight the needs in the region and the response needed from governments, non-governmental organisations, the private sector and academic institutions. Dujarric said Ban discussed “the need to urgently scale up international efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak” with US President Barack Obama in a phone conversation yesterday. The World Health Organization released figures today showing that a surge in new cases in Liberia has driven up the number of people believed to be infected with Ebola to more than 4,200. AP