Brussels, 01/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Ebola epidemic continues to rage in West Africa and the situation is still very difficult to manage, European Commissioner for Health Vytenis Andriukaitis told the competent ministers, meeting in Brussels on Monday 1 December for a working session.
Andriukaitis travelled to the African countries affected on 12-16 November along with the European Ebola coordinator, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides, to assess the situation on the ground. The spread of the virus is still not under control and the three African countries affected have increased needs, he said. “I launched an appeal to all of the European ministers to urge their healthcare professionals to travel to West Africa (…). I have had a very favourable response to this appeal”, said Andriukaitis, reporting back to the member states on his trip.
The commissioner distributed an information note to the health ministers, taking stock of the general situation on the Ebola epidemic in Africa and the state of preparedness of the member states. The document stresses that the situation in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone remains “extremely fragile” and that the epidemic is still threatening the neighbouring countries. Following their mission, the commissioners observed that there is an urgent need for additional mobile medical teams on the ground to provide the necessary health care to sufferers, to train local medical staff and to keep the population informed of the precautions to be taken to contain the spread of the virus. Requirements have become particularly acute in rural areas: in addition to drugs and health care, the population of these areas urgently needs clean water, sanitary equipment, basic hygiene products and disinfectant.
The Commission had reassuring news about the state of preparedness of the member states to tackle the Ebola virus: practically all member states have notified plans of their proper preparations in the event of a crisis and are prepared to work together for greater efficiency. “The situation has improved significantly since the last informal Health Council of Milan”, the Commission stresses. As regards evacuation, “the European coordination mechanism for the evacuation of patients affected by Ebola is now fully up and running” and a number of member states are prepared to receive members of staff affected by the virus. Four aeroplanes are currently on standby at airports in Luxembourg and the United States (two in each country) to evacuate healthcare staff members affected by the virus, if needs be.
To date, eight member states plus Norway have adequate health infrastructure to receive such patients, the Commission states. A workshop is scheduled for December; it will be attended by experts who will provide a precise clarification of the operational procedures which still need to be set in place to contain infection, with a list of equipment to be supplied to medical staff and how to use it. This list will be submitted to the member states so that they can check that all measures have been taken. As regards the exit control procedures, the Commission carried out an audit in the three African countries affected between 19-23 November, working with the WHO and the ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) and the results will be notified to the member states once they are available, the Commission went on. It also stated that a video would soon be available and broadcast in all EU languages to raise European public awareness of the dangers of Ebola. Lastly, as regards immunisation, three treatments are currently in phase 1 of trials to test the effectiveness and the results will be announced in the course of the month of December. Phase 2 of the trials will begin in the first quarter of 2015. The Commission is also working with the industry for the development of vaccines and additional treatments. (IL)