After Ebola, WHO to set up contingency fund, develop 'surge capacity'

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director of the World Health Organization, speaks to members of the Security Council during a meeting on the Ebola crisis at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, September 18, 2014. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

GENEVA (Reuters) - The Executive Board of the World Health Organisation (WHO) agreed on Sunday to create a contingency fund and an emergency workforce to respond quickly to crises after strong criticism of the agency's delay in confronting the Ebola epidemic.

Director-general Dr. Margaret Chan acknowledged that the outbreak showed the need to strengthen WHO's crisis management and to streamline procedures for recruiting frontline workers.