Blog: Even One New Ebola Case is One Case Too Many! - Hoofdinhoud
The cases in Guinea and Liberia and the tragic deaths are sad but compelling reminders that the fight against Ebola is not over. EU support on the ground continues. For as long as it takes!
It was back in October 2014 when I was appointed as the EU Ebola Coordinators, just days before I was given the mandate of EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management. This was at the height of the Ebola epidemic in the three affected countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. These were hard times. Families shattered, lives disrupted and death looming every day, borderless and indiscriminate.
Since then, it has been a rollercoaster! Moments of crisis, moments of hope and compelling stories of courage and heroism. In the past few months we started having the upper hand on the virus. "Ebola" is no longer in the headlines. But the virus does not read newspapers! It has re-emerged, with new cases first in Guinea and now also in Liberia. In every moment of victory, I constantly warned: We cannot let our guard down; we must remain vigilant.
This warning was coupled with action. Our support on the ground continues as I write this blog.
What are the main strands of our ongoing response? We are funding key NGO and UN partners for their frontline work to run Ebola treatment centres, work with Ebola survivors, coordinate the response. There is an EU Mobile Laboratory on the ground in Guinea, doing great work to test samples and do sequencing. And we are maintaining the EU medical evacuation (Medevac) system we put in place in late 2014, ready to evacuate international health workers if needed.
Today, the cases in Guinea and Liberia and the tragic deaths are sad but compelling reminders that the fight against Ebola is not over. The threat of another epidemic is real. It is true that the governments of the region, the people of the three countries and the international community are now better prepared. But back in 2014, the Ebola epidemic started with just one case. We need to remain more vigilant than ever.
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