UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was leaving Wednesday night for Ebola-affected countries in western Africa.
He will visit Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Mali, the four most affected countries by the unprecedented epidemic outbreak, as well as Ghana, where the UN Ebola response mission headquarters is located, Xinhua quoted Ban as saying at a year-end press conference here.
"I want to see the response myself and show my solidarity with those affected," Ban said, urging for an even greater global response to fight against the epidemic.
The UN secretary-general will be accompanied by Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Margaret Chan and his Ebola envoy David Nabarro and others.
Ban praised Ebola responders for their "heroic work", saying that local communities and national governments are highly engaged.