Brussels, 27/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - Having been newly appointed by the European Council as the European Ebola coordinator (see EUROPE 11184), the incoming humanitarian aid and civil protection commissioner, Christos Stylianides announced on 27 October that he would travel to West Africa at the start of November in order to “better assess the needs and gaps in our effort. It will help decide our next steps”.
“My job … will be to identify these gaps and assess what Europe can do to fill them”, he said. On his appointment, the commissioner is well aware that this is a “really challenging task”. “We need to act with determination. We must act swiftly and in a coordinated manner. This is the only way to save lives and turn the tide against Ebola”, he went on to say, adding: “We must be ready to admit possible mistakes”.
Cooperation and coordination are the key words used by Stylianides to describe the action that the European Union must now take in the African countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone hit by the haemorrhagic fever epidemic. He said that everyone must now act as one, making use of all the tools at their disposal, all that the EU can offer and what the member states can bring, in a concerted fashion. Highlighting all that the European Union and the member states have already done in terms of equipment and humanitarian staff deployed in the region, the European Council having decided to increase European aid from €600 million to €1 billion, the commissioner added: “We now need to shift into high gear and make sure these elements work as a common European response. Much is still needed to be done in a collective way”. Stylianides will work with the Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), which will coordinate all transport, equipment and medical staff initiatives decided on by the member states, and the Commission to combat Ebola in West Africa. Adding that he will work closely with the member states, his fellow commissioners and the European External Action Service (EEAS), Stylianides made clear that the coordinated European aid must also support the aid being provided by international partners and the United Nations. “I will make sure that our response is in line with our international partners”, he insisted. He also paid tribute to the humanitarian staff on the ground, “the pillar of our response … they deserve all our respect”.
The commissioner went on to announce that he would travel to West Africa in early November. “I want (…) to go in the affected countries. I want to be present to express our solidarity in person. … Isolation is not an option”, he stated. The exact date of his departure has not yet been set - he is awaiting the findings of the assessment and analyses of the team of experts sent out on Saturday 25 October and due to return on Friday 31 October to take precise stock of the immediate action to be taken. What is certain is that “the most needed at this stage is humanitarian aid - need of reinforcement”. Stylianides confirmed that 5,000 beds would be needed in the coming weeks (rather than the 1,000 currently), which will mean a 40,000 strong humanitarian presence will be required.
ECHO Director General Claus Sorensen did not try to hide that it may not be possible to confine the epidemic. “Yes, it may spread” (to neighbouring countries), he acknowledged. A conference in Brazzaville to be attended by the leaders of the countries affected will take stock and bring cooperation and coordination of the prevention measures to be taken, including training of local medical staff and how to convey information to an often illiterate population which does not have modern means of communication. “There's no easy answer” said Sorensen. He did not want to say too much on the development of a vaccine but hoped for good news by the start of next year. In the meantime, the whole health system of the three countries hit by the epidemic is under immense pressure, with all available human and financial means being completely devoted to tackling the spread of the Ebola virus. Nothing is now being done to tackle the region's endemic diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis. “The health sector is near to collapse”, stated Sorensen. He acknowledged that, for the moment, there are not enough planes to quickly and safely evacuate staff infected with the virus in light of the additional humanitarian workers who will travel to West Africa in the coming weeks. “There's not sufficient planes. If we scale up the number of volunteers, we need to scale up the number of planes. We will have one or two planes extra in the coming weeks”, he said. (IL)