Outgoing director Chan says WHO responded ‘too slowly’ to Ebola outbreak

Ebola showed up in West Africa in 2013 and stayed for two years. It infected some 28,000 people and killed more than 11,000.

Many have criticized the World Health Organization for its slow response. The WHO didn’t declare an international health emergency until August 2014.

Outgoing WHO Director-General Margaret Chan apologized.

In her last official speech, Chan took the blame for the slow response.

“This happened on my watch, and I am personally accountable,” she told the World Health Assembly on May 21.

Chan was WHO director-general for the past decade.

She put into place programs to prevent another outbreak from going epidemic.

“History will judge whether the new emergencies program has given the world a stronger level of protection,” Chan said. “The world is better prepared, but not nearly well enough.”