(Fixes typo in Aylward's name, paragraph 4)
By Tom Miles
Dec 1 (Reuters) - Sierra Leone does not yet haveenough beds in treatment centres to isolate Ebola patients inthe west of the country but the opening of many new facilitiesin the next few weeks makes its prognosis "very good", the WorldHealth Organization's assistant director general said on Monday.
Unlike the other worst-hit countries, Guinea and Liberia,Sierra Leone has failed to slow or stabilise the spread of theepidemic, raising concern that it may be a weak link in thedefence against the virus.
But Bruce Aylward said Sierra Leone, too, was on track tocontain the outbreak.
"I would never have used the phrase 'Where things wentwrong', actually, with respect to Sierra Leone," Aylward said."What I'm most impressed about is how much is being done right...
"Capacity at the district level is strong and gettingstronger in Sierra Leone, and that's why I think the prognosisis actually very good'"
Two months ago, the United Nations set a target of having 70percent of Ebola victims buried safely and 70 percent of Ebolapatients treated in isolation beds within 60 days. Those twogoals are seen as the key to halting the spread of the epidemic.
Guinea and Liberia have met both targets, but some areas inthe west of Sierra Leone have still not done so, which Aylwardsaid accounted for the continued spread of the disease.
But he said new bed capacity in Sierra Leone meant thetarget would be hit in the next few weeks, and the geographictargeting of Ebola beds was "right on the mark".
"The virus is telling you that. The problem is, you wouldhave wished it had come on line a month earlier," he said.
"The virus got a leg-up and took advantage of it. Ideallythe build-out would have been faster, but remember, they wereplanning this build-out and working on it well before the casescaught up with them." (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
By Tom Miles
Dec 1 (Reuters) - Sierra Leone does not yet haveenough beds in treatment centres to isolate Ebola patients inthe west of the country but the opening of many new facilitiesin the next few weeks makes its prognosis "very good", the WorldHealth Organization's assistant director general said on Monday.
Unlike the other worst-hit countries, Guinea and Liberia,Sierra Leone has failed to slow or stabilise the spread of theepidemic, raising concern that it may be a weak link in thedefence against the virus.
But Bruce Aylward said Sierra Leone, too, was on track tocontain the outbreak.
"I would never have used the phrase 'Where things wentwrong', actually, with respect to Sierra Leone," Aylward said."What I'm most impressed about is how much is being done right...
"Capacity at the district level is strong and gettingstronger in Sierra Leone, and that's why I think the prognosisis actually very good'"
Two months ago, the United Nations set a target of having 70percent of Ebola victims buried safely and 70 percent of Ebolapatients treated in isolation beds within 60 days. Those twogoals are seen as the key to halting the spread of the epidemic.
Guinea and Liberia have met both targets, but some areas inthe west of Sierra Leone have still not done so, which Aylwardsaid accounted for the continued spread of the disease.
But he said new bed capacity in Sierra Leone meant thetarget would be hit in the next few weeks, and the geographictargeting of Ebola beds was "right on the mark".
"The virus is telling you that. The problem is, you wouldhave wished it had come on line a month earlier," he said.
"The virus got a leg-up and took advantage of it. Ideallythe build-out would have been faster, but remember, they wereplanning this build-out and working on it well before the casescaught up with them." (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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