Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-09-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that health facilities in countries affected by ebola are strengthened to ensure that they can prevent or contain a future outbreak.

Grant Shapps

The UK has committed £240m over two years in support of the Government of Sierra Leone’s Ebola Recovery Strategy, including major investment in health. Our interventions will aim to increase the capacity of district and national structures to identify and respond swiftly to future outbreaks of Ebola or other communicable diseases. We will build on the surveillance, command and control systems established during the response.

In Liberia, DFID has committed £6 million to the Health Sector Pool Fund over two years, to support access to safe, quality health services. The UK indirectly supports Guinea’s recovery through its contributions to WHO and other multilateral organisations. Globally, DFID and the Department of Health are seeking greater commitment from countries to implement the International Health Regulations, the internationally-agreed framework for national systems to prevent and respond to public health crises.