Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo | From Reuters

West African leaders on Thursday appointed Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe to supervise the region’s efforts to contain the deadly Ebola epidemic, which has killed nearly 5,000 people, mostly in the region.

The leaders who gathered in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, called for accelerated efforts to make vaccines available against the disease, which has infected some 13,567 people in eight countries.

Organizations should prioritize the provision of vaccines at subsidized prices to the affected countries, as well as others, they said in a communique after reviewing the impact of the disease in the region.

The Accra meeting is the third called by the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) this year to discuss how to tackle Ebola. The meeting also saw additional pledges of financial assistance from member countries and partners in support of measures to fight the disease.

Ghana’s President John Mahama, who currently chairs the regional grouping, said although some countries had made progress in stabilizing the epidemic, a lot more needed to be done to eradicate it.

Read more at Reuters