WHO appoints new Africa chief after Ebola criticism

WHO's next Africa director, Matshidiso Moeti, was the Africa deputy regional director until March. WHO announced the discovery in Guinea of the current Ebola outbreak on March 23. The circumstances of her departure from WHO were not immediately clear. After the election results were announced in a WHO meeting in Benin, Moeti expressed optimism that the outbreak will be under control within three months. It has killed nearly 5,000 people and is by far the worst-ever outbreak of the dreaded disease, for which there is no cure. "I hope that the (Ebola) situation will be improved by the time I take office in February 2015," Moeti told journalists. She said the health systems in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea have been devastated and would need to be rebuilt and that readiness for any future Ebola outbreak must be improved, including warning systems and monitoring capabilities. In Sierra Leone, where the epidemic is currently particularly strong and where treatment centers are urgently needed, one built by Britain was finally opening outside the capital Wednesday. The center in Kerry Town includes an 80-bed facility to be managed by Save The Children and a 12-bed unit, which will expand to 20 beds over the coming months, for health care workers and international staff who become infected by Ebola. This smaller one will be staffed by British army medics. "We are expecting the first patients today," said Helen Mayelle, a Save the Children spokeswoman. The center will gradually become fully operational over the coming weeks. Representatives from WHO's 46 African member countries - usually members of health ministries - voted in a secret ballot for the regional director. Elections in UN organizations give member countries a say in who the leader is. WHO Africa's outgoing leader, Angolan doctor Luis Sambo, was criticized for overseeing WHO's bungled response to the biggest Ebola outbreak in history. In an internal draft document obtained by the Associated Press last month, WHO blamed its staff in Africa for initially botching the response to Ebola, Arab News reported.