Fund delay may have spread Ebola

DELAYS by international donors in providing money promised to fight Ebola may have allowed the disease to spread.

An analysis, conducted by Karen Grepin, a specialist in health policy at New York University, tracked both requests for funding by the UN’s World Health Organisation as the crisis escalated, and when payment of donations pledged was actually made.

‘‘Substantial donor support did not reach affected countries until October, more than six months after WHO was alerted to the outbreak,’’ the study said.

‘‘These delays in disbursements of funding may have contributed to the spread of the virus and could have increased financial needs.’’

After being informed by Guinea on March 23 last year of a ‘‘rapidly evolving’’ Ebola outbreak, WHO sent the West African country an initial batch of protective equipment and medical supplies.

In early April, WHO appealed for US$4.8 million in aid, a request that was swiftly met and exceeded by the international community.

By mid-November, after the creation of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, the official request made for funding was US$1.5 billion.

However, Grepin said, ‘‘it took until at least mid-October before the affected countries received US$500m and until at least December before they got US$1b’’.

As at December 31, donors had pledged US$2.89b, of which only US$1.09b was actually paid.

‘‘The problem has not been the generosity of the donors, but that the resources have not been deployed rapidly enough,’’ Grepin said.

The world needs a mechanism for a far quicker disbursement of money when Ebola and other dramatic health threats suddenly emerge.

According to the latest WHO toll, the epidemic has left 8810 dead, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, out of more than 22,000 infections registered.

On January 29, the UN’s health agency said weekly infections in West Africa fell below 100 for the first time in more than six months, boosting hopes that the outbreak was winding down.