The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	WHO asks East Asian nations to bolster Ebola defences Says spread of viral disease is modern world’s worst health crisis Manila, October 13 World Health Organisation chief Margaret Chan today urged East Asian and Pacific countries to strengthen defences against the Ebola outbreak, warning that the whole world may be at risk. The region of 1.8 billion has been a hotspot for many emerging diseases including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and bird flu, but is so far free from the Ebola virus ravaging parts of West Africa. "In the simplest terms, this outbreak shows how one of the deadliest pathogens on earth can exploit any weakness in the health infrastructure," Chan told an annual meeting of Western Pacific health officials in a speech read for her. "You cannot build these systems up during a crisis. Instead they collapse. A dysfunctional health system means zero population resilience to the range of shocks that our world is delivering, with ever greater frequency and force." Chan added: "(W)hen a deadly and dreaded virus hits the destitute and spirals out of control, the whole world is put at risk." More than 4,000 people have died from Ebola in seven countries since the worst outbreak of the virus began in West Africa early this year. Thirty-seven countries and territories including China, the rest of East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, parts of Southeast Asia and the Pacific island states comprise WHO's Western Pacific region. WHO regional director Shin Young-soo told the meeting an imported Ebola case in the region, home to a quarter of humanity, "is certainly a possibility" with its huge transportation hubs and vibrant trade and travel. "If Ebola did hit the region, the consequences could be huge... we must openly confront the challenges our region faces to manage this threat effectively," Shin said. Philippine President Benigno Aquino outlined the potential Ebola threat faced by his nation of 100 million as he delivered a speech at the start of the five-day WHO meeting. "For the Philippines specifically, the fact that we have 10 million of our countrymen living and working abroad makes these kinds of outbreaks a paramount concern," he said. The World Health Organisation says the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is "the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times" but adds that economic disruptions can be curbed if people are adequately informed to avoid irrational moves to dodge infection. In her statement to a regional health conference in Manila, Chan said educating the public about any disease outbreak is a "good defence strategy." — AFP Boston patient does not appear to have Ebola: Hospital A man in Massachusetts who was being evaluated at a Boston hospital for a possible Ebola infection does not appear to have the deadly disease, officials at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center said on Sunday night. The patient, who recently returned from Liberia, had complained of headache and muscle aches, prompting his admittance to an isolation ward with close monitoring, the hospital said. Becks to be face of UNICEF’s campaign David Beckham has been made the face of UNICEF's Ebola campaign, highlighting ways people can prevent the spread of the disease from claiming more lives. The 39-year-old footballer is set to appear in a video explaining the importance of cleanliness in controlling the epidemic.
	North Korea threatens South with armed conflict Seoul, October 13 North Korea on Monday described the sending of balloons with propaganda leaflets by South Korean activists as "the worst obstacle" to improving relations and warned that it could trigger an armed confrontation. The Rodong daily reported that the latest threat further raises concerns in South Korea about a military conflict after the North Korean military fired at the balloons sent aloft by activists from the other side of the border. South Korean soldiers fired in return, although the incident did not escalate into a battle. North Korea said that it would continue firing at the balloons. In response, the South Korean defence ministry termed the action as provocative and pledged to respond harshly if Pyongyang again fired towards its territory. Several South Korean civilian organisations regularly send balloons to the neighbouring country with news articles about international and domestic affairs, religious propaganda, chocolate bars and one dollar bills. Although this has been going on for several years, over the past several weeks North Korea has taken them seriously and threatened to respond with an armed attack. — IANS
	Rangers foil jailbreak plot in Karachi Afzal Khan in Islamabad Paramilitary Rangers have foiled a well planned plot to break into the Karachi Central Jail through a tunnel dug apparently to free some of high value targets of outlawed outfits held there. The 45-metre tunnel leading from an adjacent house in city's impoverished Ghausia colony had already gone close to only 10-metres from the barrack in the heart of the jail where the militants had been kept, Rangers' official Colonel Tahir Mehmood told reporters. He said some people were nabbed on the spot while digging the tunnel while more were arrested in raids conducted in different parts of the city on clues provided by them. He also said that the suspects most likely got help from inside the prison. "The house was bought by the suspects about five to six months ago and we have information about the identity of the seller," the official further said. "The whole process of tunnel building reveals a measure of sophistication and skill," Col Tahir said. In a spectacularly move in April 2012, scores of fighters of the outlawed Tehreek-I-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacked Bannu jail in Khyber Pakhtun Khawa and freed 400 of their colleagues just under the nose of an army post.
	Turkish border on boil as Kurdish fighters take on Islamic State Mursitpinar (Turkey), Oct 13 Kurdish fighters engaged in fierce clashes with jihadists on the Turkish border near Kobani today, as Ankara denied allowing Washington to use its bases against the Islamic State group. US officials had earlier said Turkey would also host training for "moderate" Syrian rebels, in the hopes of finally creating a force capable of tackling IS on the ground. "There is no new agreement with the United States about Incirlik," a Turkish government official told AFP of an air base in southern Turkey that the US wants to use to launch air strikes. "Negotiations are continuing" based on Turkish conditions previously laid out, the official added. Near Kobani, fighting spread early today to the border area just north of the flashpoint town, threatening to cut it off from the outside world. IS fighters were also putting strong pressure on pro-government forces in Iraq, with concern over Anbar province and the key oil refinery of Baiji. With the jihadists advancing on its doorstep, NATO member Turkey has come under intense pressure to take action as part of a US-led coalition that has been carrying out air strikes in Syria and Iraq. US officials said Turkey had agreed to let Washington use its bases including Incirlik for the air campaign. Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel said the agreement included "hosting and conducting training for Syrian opposition members" in Turkey, noting that Ankara would welcome a US Command team next week to "develop a training regimen". US military planners have repeatedly warned that the air campaign alone will not be enough to defeat IS, which in June declared an Islamic "caliphate" in the large parts of Syria and Iraq under its control. — AFP
	HK police remove barricades, but say protesters can stay Hong Kong, October 13 The Hong Kong police on Monday removed some barricades erected by pro-democracy protesters in the Chinese-controlled city, but said protesters could remain on the streets they have occupied for the past two weeks. At the main protest site, near government offices in the downtown district of Admiralty, scores of student protesters faced off with the police who were massing in the area, a Reuters witness said. The removal of barricades and massing of police, some carrying small riot shields, were the first signs in two weeks that the government may be prepared to back threats by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying that the blockade of key parts of the Asian financial hub could not last indefinitely. Protesters are demanding Leung step down and China allow Hong Kong people the right to vote for a leader of their choice in 2017 elections. China wants to select candidates for the election. The demonstration escalated late last month after police used tear gas and batons on demonstrators. Since then, police have been largely hands-off and their presence minimal. — Reuters Beijing won’t bend * The Hong Kong and Beijing governments have called the protests illegal. The Hong Kong government last week called off talks with student leaders * On Sunday, Leung vowed to remain in office and warned students demanding his resignation that their pro-democracy movement was out of control * The Beijing-backed Leung told a Hong Kong TV channel that the blockade — now entering its third week — could not continue indefinitely
	Want peace with India: Pak minister Islamabad, October 13 Pakistan wants peaceful ties with India but would fittingly respond if it tries to impose war, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said. Dar made these comments in Washington yesterday where he was present to discuss a range of strategic issues with US lawmakers and members of international financial institutions, the Dawn reported. Dar said for the development of the region, it was pertinent to promote trade activities between India and Pakistan. The LoC and the IB between Pakistan and India have witnessed heavy gun fire since October 1. — PTI
	special to the tribune Ebola threat overlooked following focus on IS? Shyam Bhatia in London Have we missed the real terror, following the media focus on the spread of global Islam? IS, Al Qaeda and the Taliban attract the most anger and concern not only of governments anger on the spread of global Islam but during this media storm the real enemy of all of us has become a reality. Two London-based medical experts point out that reports of Ebola victims and symptoms have now resulted in global panic, leading to an airport cleaner strike in New York, a temporary quarantine in a French town, and a nurse, who developed a fever having worked in Sierra Leone, has been admitted to a hospital Australia after quarantining herself. In the UK a small child has been banned from going to school. Consultant psychiatrist Dr Raj Persaud and consultant gynaecologist Dr Nicholas Morris say there is now serious concern that we are on the brink of a worldwide Ebola epidemic, killing hundreds of thousands, simply because our governments have been distracted by Islamic State. The IS and its supporters are less of a threat to the citizens of this country, than a contagious infection with a recorded fatality rate of 79%. The 79% figure is quoted from a study about to be published in the journal ‘Epidemics’ (discussed further below), and refers to previous outbreaks of Ebola. That figure may come as a shock to you because the current case fatality rate figure being spread on news sites is 70.8% and refers to the current outbreak; quoted from a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine entitled ‘Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa — The First 9 Months of the Epidemic and Forward Projections’, published September 23. The oldest medical journal in the world, the Lancet has just published: ‘Ebola: an open letter to European governments’, in which 44 senior Public Health experts from across Europe plead that the world wakes up to the Ebola crisis. The authors state: ‘After months of inaction and neglect from the international community, the Ebola epidemic in west Africa has now spiralled utterly out of control. Today, the virus is a threat not only to the countries where the outbreak has overwhelmed the capacity of national health systems, but also to the entire world.’ This puts IS into context. But why has this problem emerged? Health budgets have been slashed for the World Health Organization (WHO), the poorest relation of the UN, while resources elsewhere have been diverted to war and weapons. The real politics behind the scenes is a war on budgets allowing more to be diverted to the war on terror. Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Public Health Law and Human Rights, Lawrence Gostin and Eric Friedman from Georgetown University USA, point out in the most recent edition of the Lancet that the current Ebola epidemic will take ‘hundreds of thousands of lives if the current trajectory is not reversed’. Yet the authors have highlighted that after a 2011 funding shortfall, the WHO has had a further budget cut of $ 600 million. In another key paper about to be published and entitled, ‘Potential for large outbreaks of Ebola virus disease’, the researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, United States, have used mathematical modelling to understand the spread of the Ebola virus. Before the current epidemic there have been only 25 outbreaks of Ebola, all limited to a few hundreds of cases, so extrapolating from the past is a difficult task. Dr Anton Camacho and Dr Adam Kucharski who led the London and US research group, focused on the first ever-reported Ebola outbreak in Yambuku (Democratic Republic of Congo) during 1976. They suggest one of the reasons previous epidemics were more limited is because the transmission chain was stopped early in the epidemic. The reasons given were: change of person-to-person contact (hygiene), change of burial practice (cremation), isolation of potential cases, and contact tracing to identity other victims. The difference with this epidemic is that we have not seen this trend of changing behaviour within communities; the response has been slower, allowing the outbreak to affect different geographical areas and urban centres as well as rural communities. Camacho and Kucharski, who published their research in the academic journal ‘Epidemics’, point out that a number of mathematical modelling studies of Ebola focused on two historical outbreaks, but the authors argue it remains unclear to what extent person-to-person transmission and infection contributed to past Ebola outbreaks, and how community and hospital-specific control measures infuenced the spread in each setting. This paper demonstrates how difficult it is to assess the danger of a particular threat is, and how probability and uncertainty plays a larger role than perhaps politicians are prepared to admit. Perhaps they understand our psyche better than we do? Maybe we prefer to be lied to with a false certainty, rather than confront a darker truth that no one really knows with confidence just how dangerous many of the contrasting threats we face are. There is a sense of miscalculation in the way this current epidemic is being handled and this may be partly why, ‘WHO has been constantly catching up in mobilizing resources for Ebola’, according to, Lawrence Gostin and Eric Friedman in their Lancet commentary. They argue that in preparing its budget, WHO demonstrated misplaced confidence that it could mobilize funds rapidly in the face of the Ebola crisis. In April 2014, the WHO sought $4•8 million additional funds to deal with Ebola. By July 31 it set a $71 million goal; and in August made a $490 million appeal, with the UN launching a $988 million appeal weeks later. This clearly show how even the WHO underestimated the nature of the Ebola threat. The trouble is this might be too little too late given the historical under-funding of the WHO. Worldwide, the amount spent on waging war, so creating death and destruction, as compared to global health, is very asymmetric. Health as usual remains a poor cousin. Has the focus on IS made the world vulnerable to the more important threat of Ebola, as Dr Persaud and Dr Morris argue? The world needs a properly funded WHO. Why the problem? * Health budgets have been slashed for the World Health Organization (WHO) * Resources elsewhere have been diverted to war and weapons * The real politics behind the scenes is a war on budgets allowing more to be diverted to the war on terror. * After a 2011 funding shortfall, the WHO has had a further budget cut of $ 600 million.
	22 Afghan cops die in Taliban ambush Mazar-i-Sharif, October 13 Taliban militants killed 22 police officers and wounded eight after ambushing a police convoy in northern Afghanistan today. The early morning attack in Sari Pul province highlights Afghanistan's fragile security situation, with local forces facing a persistent Taliban insurgency as NATO winds down its military presence. The police were attacked as they travelled to reinforce colleagues in another district in Sari Pul. "They were ambushed as they were going from Laghman area to Alaf Safid. Twenty-two police were martyred, eight wounded and seven were taken captive," provincial governor Abdul Jabar Haqbin said. Around 10 police vehicles were torched, he said. "They called for foreign forces' air support, but they arrived very late," he added. He said the attack sparked a gunbattle that lasted several hours and left 23 Taliban fighters dead. Kazim Kenhan, a provincial police spokesman, confirmed the incident. The Taliban were not immediately available to comment, but the ambush is typical of attacks they have launched on Afghan security forces. NATO combat troops will complete their withdrawal by the end of this year, leaving Afghan troops and police to fight the insurgents on their own. — AFP