The Federal Government has increased its support for the fight against the Ebola epidemic in West Africa to over 100 million euros, from which the Federal Foreign Office will receive 29 million euros for humanitarian assistance and evacuation measures. In his speech at the World Health Summit on 19 October, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier proposed sending a civilian EU mission to the areas hit by Ebola.
The Ebola epidemic has been spreading through West Africa since December 2013. The three West African countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been hit particularly hard. The Special Representative of the Federal Government for the Fight against Ebola, Walter Lindner, travelled to Guinea and Liberia from 12 to 18 October to gain an insight into the situation for himself.
Lindner: front line helpers are true heroes
Upon his return he described the situation as nightmarish – in many places the health systems were on the brink of collapse. The local and international helpers were true heroes, he said, it was impossible to even imagine what they were dealing with on a daily basis. Lindner continued:
International assistance may have taken time to arrive however it is now reaching the countries affected from all sides. Yet it takes a great deal of logistics to organise all of this aid, so at this point, efficient coordination is absolutely crucial.
Steinmeier advocates civilian EU mission
In order to better coordinate the assistance measures at the European level, in his speech during the World Health Summit at the Federal Foreign Office on 19 October, Foreign Minister Steinmeier called for joint action in three fields:
Firstly, the EU member states’ current capabilities had to be pooled and jointly used. Secondly, the magnitude of the Ebola epidemic called for “a comprehensive approach encompassing all the instruments of our common foreign and security policy”. Steinmeier went on to say:
We should therefore consider sending our own civilian EU mission. This would mean that even those member states which don’t have national arrangements on the ground would have a platform for sending medical personnel.
“White helmets”: medical experts prepared for emergencies
Thirdly, one should consider how the EU could be better prepared for future epidemics, said the Foreign Minister. A pool of medical and logistics experts, so‑called “white helmets”, could be ready for action very quickly in the event of an emergency. Steinmeier also advocated this idea in an article he wrote for the daily newspaper Bild on 20 October.
EU coordinator for the fight against Ebola called for
At their Council meeting in Luxembourg on 20 October, the EU foreign ministers discussed these suggestions. In their Council conclusions they supported the idea of setting up a pool of “white helmet” experts. In addition to this they discussed introducing a European coordinator for the fight against the Ebola epidemic: Foreign Minister Steinmeier stressed that the EU needed someone who could swiftly organise aid measures and handle the need for help.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly on 27 September, too, Steinmeier had said that Germany would contribute to the fight against Ebola by providing humanitarian and medical assistance as well as by helping to strengthen states and their health systems on a more long-term basis.
Measures to combat the epidemic
The Federal Government is providing over 100 million euros to help combat the Ebola epidemic. These funds are going to support the World Health Organization and humanitarian NGOs which are providing assistance on the ground. Moreover, the German Red Cross is set to receive over 200 beds for a mobile hospital – the first 100 beds are due to be sent to Sierra Leone.
Together with the French Army, the Bundeswehr has established an air lift to the countries affected by the Ebola outbreak. The Bundeswehr also plans to set up two smaller health care units to provide treatment on the ground.
The fight against Ebola does not only require infrastructure, personnel are needed on the front line: hundreds of volunteers responded to a call issued by the German Red Cross and the first amongst them are receiving training for their deployment in West Africa.
Medical personnel who become infected in the field should be flown back to Germany: in less severe cases it is already possible to transport the patient in a Bundeswehr isolation tent. The Federal Government is currently working on equipping a plane to evacuate seriously ill patients.