Addis Ababa - African Union chiefs held an emergency meeting Monday to hammer out a continent-wide strategy to deal with the Ebola epidemic, which has killed over 2 000 people in west Africa.
"Fighting Ebola must be done in a manner that doesn't fuel isolation or lead to the stigmatisation of victims, communities and countries," AU commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, speaking at the opening of the
meeting.
Dlamini-Zuma told the executive council of the 54-member body, meeting in bloc's headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, of the urgent need to "craft a united, comprehensive and collective African response" to the outbreak.
The meeting also aimed to discuss "the suspension of flights, and maritime and border closures," according to an AU statement. "We should ensure that Ebola does not spread to other countries by implementing effective procedures to deter, isolate and treat those who may be infected, and protect the rest of the population," Dlamini-Zuma said.
The death toll from the Ebola epidemic -- which is spreading across west Africa, with Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone the worst hit -- has topped 2,000, of nearly 4,000 people who have been infected, according to the World Health Organization.
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