Western leaders hold video conference to combat Ebola outbreak

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, October 16, 2014
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Western leaders held a video conference Wednesday to discuss on-going world crises of Ebola, the Islamic State (IS) and the situation in Eastern Ukraine.

The video conference call was conducted among British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

The leaders' video conference call mainly focused on the outbreak of the Ebola in West Africa, a Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement.

"Leaders agreed that this was the most serious international public health emergency in recent years and that the international community needed to do much more and faster to halt the rise of the disease in the region," the spokesperson said.

The statement added that each leader set out what his or her country is doing to help the countries affected and then focused their discussions on how to improve coordination of the international effort and to work together to address the most urgent priorities.

The priorities included increasing the amount of international spending on the issue, increasing the number of trained personnel working in the region to treat those affected and prevent the disease spreading; and evacuation procedures for workers affected.

"The Prime Minister said we would welcome countries partnering with us in Sierra Leone so that we can provide more treatment beds and we will now explore this further with the Italians," the statement noted.

Cameron also proposed that the leaders seize the opportunity of meeting in Milan on Friday and at the European Council next week to discuss what more Europe can do to help tackle the disease.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond also hosted a Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) meeting on Ebola Wednesday to discuss further response to the crisis in West Africa.

In the video call, the leaders also discussed international effort to defeat IS, also known as ISIL.

"There was a clear consensus on the need to do more to support an inclusive political approach in Iraq, and to train up local forces in Iraq and Syria who can tackle ISIL on the ground, supported by the international coalition's airpower," the Downing Street spokesperson said.

Cameron said that "we are looking at what more we can do to train up local forces in both Iraq and Syria," according to the statement.

The leaders also agreed on the importance of encouraging the Iraqi government's efforts to engage Sunni communities in Iraq, in order to isolate IS politically, it added.

Finally, they discussed situation in eastern Ukraine ahead of the meeting in Milan on Friday between European leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

The leaders agreed that the international community must continue to help the Ukrainian government tackle the economic challenges it faces, including through supporting painful but necessary reforms. Enditem

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