Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total cost to date of assistance to Sierra Leone to combat the Ebola outbreak; and how those costs have been allocated between departments.

The UK has committed £427m to combat Ebola in West Africa, £373m for the ongoing crisis response and £54m for early recovery activities including infection prevention control and WASH facilities. The Secretary of State recently announced a further £240m package of support for Sierra Leone at the UN Secretary General’s Conference in New York, however this will focus on long term recovery over the next 2 years.

DFID is leading the UK Government’s response to the crisis and retains the budget for response activities, reimbursing other government departments including the Ministry of Defence, the NHS and Public Health England for any costs incurred. DFID has so far disbursed over £275 million to combat the outbreak.