The United Nations issued a stark warning Tuesday, saying an ongoing Ebola outbreak could inflict economic damage of as much as $3.6 billion across Africa while eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs — potentially triggering a widespread development crisis.
Damien Mama, the United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative in the Democratic Republic of Congo, stressed that the window to act is now.
“If we have the resources and we step up, we can contain this outbreak and prevent further losses,” Mama said.
He cautioned that failure to respond adequately could have consequences far beyond the immediate health emergency.
“If we do not, this health emergency risks becoming a much deeper and prolonged development crisis across the region and potentially the continent,” he added.
