Pleas for Ebola to be declared a global health emergency
The head of the World Health Organisation has called the world’s second worst Ebola outbreak a “global wake up call” to the escalating risk of disease outbreaks spreading from conflict areas neglected by the international community.
Currently there is a real lack of day-to-day funding for preparedness to combat serious epidemics before they become regional or international threats. Unfortunately it is the case here that until there is “fear and panic” in the headlines there will be little attention from the international community, and thus a lack of financial support persists.
Dr Tedros Adhanom stated: “The problem is that [donors] refrain from paying until there is fear and panic. That has to change. We should not be funding by huge amounts when we panic, but should be funding to avoid panic.”
Invoking the spectre of Spanish influenza, which killed tens of millions in the aftermath of World War I, he added that international health systems in an increasingly globalised world were only as “strong as the weakest link”.
Tedros added that while he believed the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could be controlled in the short term – given the right security conditions – the virus would inevitably return while political instability continued in North Kivu and Iruri, the provinces at the heart of the outbreak.
Tedros also reiterated his resistance to declaring the current outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). This is despite calls from the British international development secretary, Rory Stewart, during a visit to the city of Butembo, the current epicentre of the outbreak.
Tedros argued, “There are some people who say we need to declare the outbreak as an [emergency] to mobilise resources. That’s really wrong. Resources should be available to prevent needing to declare a PHEIC. Preparedness is the solution, not firefighting.”
WHO officials have disputed Stewert’s assertion that there was a shortage of vaccines, saying there was sufficient supply for the current models of the epidemic. At the moment the outbreak is designated a “category three emergency,” the WHO’s highest level before a declaration of PHEIC. Three cases crossed the border briefly to Uganda last month.
Tedros warned, however, that far from helping with the response to the outbreak, designating it as a PHEIC could actually complicate the response of health teams on the ground. It could see borders closed and increase economic hardship for an already highly marginalised and angry population that relies on cross-border trade and has already attacked health teams. “PHEIC only shows there is a very high risk of international spread, which is not the case based on the criteria. But if you take whether Ebola is an emergency in DRC or not, it is – it’s actually the highest level of emergency.”
Last year outbreaks of the disease were largely kept under control. However the outbreak in Butembo has proved hugely complicated, with violent attacks on health officials and treatment centres.
The WHO has attracted criticism for its response to the DRC outbreak, not least over the issue of whether to declare it a global health emergency, a move critics say could prompt more donor countries to offer funds and other resources.
