--- title: Ebola: WHO Vows Reform After Outbreak Mistakes description: The World Health Organization (WHO) is implementing "fundamental changes" after the poor response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. canonical: https://time.com/3882556/who-reform-ebola-outbreak-mistakes/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-18T16:24:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:08.648Z article:section: Health og:title: WHO Vows Reform After Ebola Outbreak Mistakes og:description: The agency is establishing a $100 million contingency fund og:url: https://time.com/3882556/who-reform-ebola-outbreak-mistakes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: WHO Vows Reform After Ebola Outbreak Mistakes twitter:description: The agency is establishing a $100 million contingency fund twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # WHO Vows Reform After Ebola Outbreak Mistakes > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: Photographing Ebola: John Moore in Liberia [Watch (HLS stream): Photographing Ebola: John Moore in Liberia](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7vV9HzPX.m3u8) (6:04)  _Published 2014-12-09. Getty Images photographer discusses his experience covering the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in Liberia_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 18, 2015 4:24 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 18, 2015 4:24 PM UTC The World Health Organization (WHO) is implementing “fundamental changes”—including a establishing a $100 million contingency fund—after the poor response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. “The world was ill-prepared to respond to an outbreak that was so widespread, so severe, so sustained, and so complex,” said WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan at the annual World Health Assembly on Monday.”WHO was overwhelmed, as were all other responders. The demands on WHO were more than ten times greater than ever experienced in the almost 70-year history of this Organization.” The assembly is the decision-making body of WHO and the meeting is attended by delegates from the WHO member states. Chan told those present at the event that the WHO is making changes to ensure it is better equipped for a similar health-related emergency in the future. First, the WHO says it is developing a new program specifically focusing on health emergencies that will have performance benchmarks for what must happen 24, 48 and 72 hours after the beginning of an outbreak. The WHO is also establishing a global health emergency workforce and will strengthen its trained emergency response staff through a proposed increase in budget. The agency is also streamlining its managerial and logistical procedures. Lastly, Chan said the agency is establishing a $100 million contingency fund that will be financed through voluntary contributions. This, Chan said, is to make sure the WHO has the necessary resources needed. “I do not ever again want to see this Organization faced with a situation it is not prepared, staffed, funded, or administratively set up to manage,” said Chan. “We will move forward on an urgent footing. I plan to complete these changes by the end of the year.” ### PHOTOS: See How a Photographer is Covering Ebola’s Deadly Spread  Members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team, under contract from the Liberian Ministry of Health, remove the body of suspected Ebola victim Lorpu David, 30, on Sept. 18, 2014, in the Gurley street community in central Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team, remove the body of woman, 75, a suspected Ebola victim on Sept. 18, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  A burial team collects the body of a 75-year-old woman in a neighborhood called PHP in Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 18, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  A resident of the West Point neighborhood covers his nose as a burial team leaves with a body in Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 17, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Members of a burial team from the Liberian Red Cross remove the body of a man, a suspected Ebola victim, from a home in Matadi on Sept. 17, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  A member of a Liberian Red Cross burial team is disinfected, with chlorine sprayed on by a colleague, after having removed the body of a man, a suspected Ebola victim, on Sept. 6, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images  Residents look on as the body of a man suspected of dying from Ebola lies in a busy street after it was reportedly dragged there to draw the attention of burial teams. For several days, his family had asked for the body to be picked up, to no avail. Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 15, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Friends and relatives weep as a burial team removes the body of a 75-year-old woman. Her neighbors insisted she had died of a stroke. Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 18, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Eric Gweah, 25, grieves as he watches members of a Red Cross burial team carry the body his father, Ofori Gweah, 62, a suspected Ebola victim, in a riverside area called Rock Spring Valley in central Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 18, 2014\. Ofori Gweah had endured Ebolaís telltale symptoms for six days, his family took him to treatment centers twice, only to be turned back. So many Ebola victims are dying at home due to a severe shortage of treatment centers in Monrovia, and many of the ill are infecting family members, neighbors and others in a ballooning circle of contagion. (Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times) Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Residents discuss an Ebola awareness campaign in Monrovia, Liberia, Aug. 30, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Residents of the West Point neighborhood attend church after a 10-day quarantine was lifted in Monrovia, Liberia, Aug. 31, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  James Dorbor, 8, suspected to have Ebola, lays on the ground as his father Edward tried to get the boy to drink coconut water. They waited for James to be admitted into the JFK Ebola treatment center on Sept. 5, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images  Edward Dorbor reacts after believing that his son, James Dorbor, 8, had died. However, the boy survived for a few additional hours before dying at the JFK Ebola treatment center on Sept. 5, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images  Medical staff rush into the treatment facility, carrying James Dorbor, 8, suspected of having Ebola. Since the health workers weren't wearing the appropriate protection against Ebola, they positioned James' body in a way to limit exposure to the deadly virus. Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 5, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  A relative grieves as members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team dress themselves in full protective clothing prior to removing the body of suspected Ebola victim, Ofori Gweah, 62, on Sept. 18, 2014 in central Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux  Medical staff spray down a small plastic bag containing the blood sample of Hawa Konneh, 9, a suspected Ebola victim, as she lays on the dirt wrapped in a shawl in front of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Ebola treatment center, as her mother, Masogbe, sits near to her prior to Hawa's passing away on Sept. 4, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images  Marvin Gweah, 28, is overcome by emotion as members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team carry away the body of his father, Ofori Gweah, 62, a suspected Ebola victim, on Sept. 18, 2014 in central Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I always like to get some sort of consent from people before I start photographing them. It was very hard, when I had goggles on and I was wearing protective clothing, to establish a connection with people. [ MUSIC ] I had heard about the epidemic this spring. But really it got my attention this summer when MSF Doctors without Borders described the situation in Monrovia the capital of Liberia as potentially catastrophic. When you're working in an infectious area you're very conscious about what you touch and what you don't touch. I don't think I shook anyone's hand. The whole time I was in Liberia. Occasionally we gave what they call a elbow bump and that's and that's it. And everyone understands that it's not being impolite. It's just the way you survive. I spent a lot of time especially during my first visit photographing in the West Point township of Monrovia. It's a very congested area. More than 75, 000 people live on a very small peninsula. And West Point is located right near the heart of Monrovia. And so authorities were specifically concerned about that neighborhood. If Ebola took hold there it can spread quickly throughout the capital. One person told me about an isolation center which had just been opened in the West Point slum. This was a former school, which had been closed because of the epidemic. I went to the school and people were being brought by ambulance, people were very weak. One day a child would be healthy looking and the next day that same child would be face down on a mattress and not moving. They were clearly dehydrated and feverish and were being led into this place which is very dark. It did not have electricity or running water. People were led into rooms. And given mattresses and were basically lying on the floor. I was dressed in protective clothing. Well, inside that school, many of the patients were being taken into a very large classroom with a blackboard. And it smelled very strongly of chlorine because the health workers had been spraying around the room. There were healthy people. And there were dead people lying together in the same room. It was a very haunting situation. The health workers tried to move the healthy people to another place. Some of them were able to get up and walk to another room. This one man really struggled to get up. His name was Abraham. He finally got to his feet. And started walking out the door and he lost his balance and he fell straight back onto his head. The sound of his head hitting the floor is something I'll, I'll never forget. ju, it's just horrible. His wife rushed back into the room and was standing over him and she didn't know what to do. She knew she wasn't supposed to touch him. So she stood over him and waited for health workers to come and then they tried to revive him. I never saw Abraham move again. And I was told he died, later that day. [ MUSIC ] The burial teams put on their personal protective gear. They would go into a house. Spray down the whole area. They would collect a body and put it into a body bag. And so they may have eight Ebola victims to collect during the course of a day. And they would have to suit up and then take it all off eight times. And through all this repetition of course they become better at it and more safe but at the same time there's. There's there's many opportunities for mistakes. And many health workers in Liberia have died in the course of their work. They have some of the hardest jobs you can imagine. Collecting Ebola victims every day. Not just mentally, but physically, because of the heat. And very stressful, cuz they know if they make a mistake, that could be their lives. And, potentially those of their family members. Members if they infect other people. A person who has dies of Ebola, their body almost becomes a virus bomb. It's highly infectious. When people are most likely to be infected is when they touch a dead body. And that happens during burial rights and it's been very difficult for Liberians to accept that their loved ones will be cremated. Cremation is not a normal in Liberian society. I think that day there were two or three dozen bags that were put on top of the wood. And afterwards they, they put fuel on top and they, they set it ablaze. And it burns all night long. The media were not invited to be there. The Liberian government did not want pictures of it cuz they knew that cremation. Nation is very sensitive and a very sore point for Liberians in general. Ebola is a very dehumanizing illness. Because it takes away the ability of people to comfort their loved ones to touch them to clean them. To comfort them, in a terrible time. It's horrible for the family members and traumatic for them because their last memories with this loved one are not ones of comforting and helping, they're ones of standing by, as a team of health workers dressed in anti- contamination suits comes in and takes their loved one away. I think that would be horrible for any of us. 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