Introduction
Thirteen months into the deadliest-ever outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD), West Africa is finally showing good progress in the fight against the epidemic.
Although the outbreak is not over yet, the focus has shifted from emergency response to early recovery.
The governments of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone recently developed recovery strategies for their countries and have asked the EU, UN, World Bank and IMF to support these plans. At the WB-IMF Spring Meeting on 17 April in Washington DC, the World Bank committed to financing the Ebola recovery plans of the three affected countries.1 The Ebola crisis presents an unparalleled opportunity to build more-resilient national health systems and well-designed emergency preparedness plans, and to shape appropriate policies to sustainably finance national strategies.
This briefing looks into the specific situation of the crisis in Sierra Leone. It provides an overview of the urgent issues that Christian Aid has identified as being the priorities now, including:
• investment in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in most of the country
• prioritisation of primary health care (PHC) services
• support for socio-economic activities for Ebola survivors, their families and Ebola-affected communities
• training of traditional healers in infection prevention and control (IPC) and in referral of Ebola-suspected cases to health facilities, as part of the social mobilisation strategy.
This briefing also offers potential longer-term strategies that could generate significant resources to finance the Sierra Leone health system, such as:
• reviewing Sierra Leone’s policy on tax incentives granted to multinational corporations
• developing a robust, effective and efficient national tax system.
Finally, some valuable lessons can be drawn from the Ebola response to help reform the humanitarian system.