ECOWAS Chair, John Mahama has criticised what he said was the world's "slow response" to the deadly Ebola virus.

The virus has claimed over 4,500 lives across the world with Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone being worst affected.

Over 9,000 more cases have been recorded, 70 per cent of whom are expected to be killed by the virus.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Danish Trade Minister, Mogen Jensen, Ghana's president John Mahama said the world's response could have been better.

"Let me say that the situation with Ebola in the three affected countries is quite a serious one. Unfortunately the response by the rest of the world was quite slow.

"As a result of the cultural practices and the peculiar nature of the area in which the outbreak occurred,  the outbreak had spiraled much wider than we had expected and it has not been possible to contain it as quickly as possible," he stated.

Worst of all, president John Mahama indicated further that years of conflict in the three countries actually worsened the public health delivery systems, a situation that led to the quick spread of the Ebola virus.

The ECOWAS chair narrated how patients who had contracted the virus in the three countries were turned away because there was no space to admit them only for them to go home and spread the virus even further.

John Mahama said he was happy the world has started responding positively, reminding stakeholders that the Ebola virus is a global problem and not one for Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

He commended the Danish government for contributing 10 million Danish krone, an equivalent of $1.7 million towards Ghana's fight against Ebola.