• The current situation and the SDC’s commitment
• Despite several reports of decreasing numbers of new infections in Liberia, the health situation in the three worst affected countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - remains rather critical. The epidemic is not only having a severe impact on the entire healthcare system of the countries affected but also has serious implications for security, food supplies and the overall economic situation.
• There are currently still no drugs or reliable vaccines against Ebola. However, several countries, including Switzerland, are working hard to develop a vaccine. The first series of clinical trials with vaccines were initiated in October 2014.
• The SDC has been monitoring the situation since the first cases of Ebola became publicly known in March 2014 via the Swiss Humanitarian Aid cooperation office in Monrovia (Liberia). The office staff has since been increased to 21 persons with the addition of an emergency aid coordinator, a logistics expert and a project manager from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit, SHA (currently 5 SHA and 16 local employees).
• In September 2014, the SDC together with the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA) and in cooperation with Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) conducted a factfinding mission in Liberia. The findings confirmed SDC’s priorities in answer to the Ebola crisis:
Containment of the epidemic through proper treatment and preventive measures
Strengthening of health care systems of the affected countries
Mitigation of adverse effects at the social and economic level
• Five SHA experts (2 physicians for MSF, 1 engineer for WFP in Sierra Leone, 2 WASH engineers for UNICEF and Terre des homes in Guinea) are seconded to partner organisations and deployed to the three most affected countries. In addition, during the first three months of 2015, SDC supports in Guinea Ebola treatment centres with 16 tons of personal protective equipment. The first shipment of material is carried during the second week of January.
