Health systems dangerously inadequate for dealing with emergencies like Ebola
18 December 2014
World Health Organisation and member country failings mean global health systems remain “Dangerously Inadequate” for dealing with health emergencies, say MPs
- Report: Responses to the Ebola Crisis
- Report: Responses to the Ebola Crisis (PDF 236KB)
- Inquiry: Responses to the Ebola Crisis
- International Development Committee
In a report published today, the House of Commons International Development Committee says DfID and the World Health Organisation initially failed to recognise the scale and severity of the Ebola crisis and were too slow to respond. This is in part due the WHO’s member states, who have cut its funding and failed to emphasise building sustainable health systems in developing countries, leaving the global health system “dangerously inadequate” for responding to health emergencies. The Committee commends DfID’s vigorous efforts to tackle Ebola now, but the outbreak continues to outpace efforts to tackle it.
The Committee commends all those who have risked their lives in the effort to tackle Ebola, and in particular Médecins Sans Frontièrs, which was the first international organisation to recognise the scale of the epidemic and respond accordingly. It recommends that DfID press for a review of the international approach to health emergencies, incorporating the function, structure and funding of the World Health Organisation and the role and expectations of major donors. It says DFID must not wait for its 2015 Multilateral Aid Review to do this: the urgency of the situation requires immediate action.
The Ebola outbreak that has stricken Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea since March 2014 has had a devastating effect on the region. By 2 December 2014, more than 17,500 cases and 6,000 deaths had been reported. These figures will inevitably rise. Ebola has had wider damaging consequences for local economies, food security, institutional stability and the broader health system.
Chair's Comments
“The Committee visited Sierra Leone and Liberia in June 2014, just before the full impact of the epidemic became apparent. The health system in Sierra Leone has since been overwhelmed by Ebola, which, given the post-conflict fragility of development in the country and the severity of the epidemic, was perhaps inevitable. However, had more attention been paid over recent years to strengthening the health system as we have recommended in the past, and had more Sierra Leonean health professionals been retained in the domestic system, the impact of Ebola would have been less severe. So too would have been the cost of tackling the outbreak. We reiterate the recommendations of our report on Strengthening Health Systems in Developing Countries - strengthening the health system should be the centrepiece of DFID’s reconstruction plans for Sierra Leone.
“DfID has rightly identified defeating Ebola as quickly as possible as the most important step in giving Sierra Leone the best chance of successful reconstruction and development in the long term. It is also right to be planning for that long term now. We are asking DFID write to us on a monthly basis detailing progress on, and plans for, aid disbursement, staff deployment and other actions to tackle Ebola. It is imperative that, once the immediate crisis is over, the eyes of the world do not turn away from the region. DFID should convene a global conference in early 2015 to agree a common plan for post-crisis reconstruction in the region and keep the momentum going.”