West Africa: Ebola

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Monday 19th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, I join the noble Lord in wishing Pauline Cafferkey a speedy recovery. She is being remembered by all for the wonderful work she has done in Sierra Leone. On the noble Lord’s question about the pledge, it is right that we as a country should continue with our supportive work and urge other donors who have committed to the $5 billion to step up and deliver. But as the noble Lord is aware, this work is going to take time. The three countries involved have suffered quite badly, but we can rest assured that the work we are doing with the President of Sierra Leone and through our own programmes is not the short-term application of a plaster and will ensure a long and sustainable recovery.

[Lord Chidgey (LD)]

My Lords, I share the concerns of the House regarding the hoped-for recovery of nurse Cafferkey; we recognise the sacrifice she has made in the interests of the communities we are trying to support. Following the Ebola health crisis, studies for the Africa All-Party Parliamentary Group, which I co-chair, confirm the importance of community ownership of health systems and local empowerment through the development of effective community health workforces, together with the resources they need to protect themselves. The letter I received from the Secretary of State this morning appears to confirm that, although the United Kingdom addressed the shortage of health workers and health resources in Sierra Leone during the crisis, a sustainable, localised solution is still needed for the future. What provision is DfID therefore actively making in its forward programming for the long-term health and development assistance at community level that is essential to stabilising and growing local economies?

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the noble Lord is right to say that we need to work at many levels. The noble Lord, Lord Giddens, asked about the work and the commitment of major investors such as the International Monetary Fund. While this work must be done at several levels, I agree that we need to work at local level with civil society and local communities to ensure that they can recognise the situation and respond. The work we have done to date shows the effort we have put in trying to reach a zero rate of Ebola cases. It is important to note that this will be an ongoing, long-term recovery. We are one of the partner countries, and we have led on this issue in Sierra Leone. We now need to ensure that, at all levels, we commit to and retain sustainable, long-term development.