Ebola: Expecting promises

  Translated to French by Liana Cramer   According to a study by Karen Grepin, a public health expert from New York University, about $2.9 billion have been promised to fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, but only 40% have actually reached countries affected by the disease.   Published, the 3rd of February in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the study is based on figures from the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which states that at the end of last year, the countries affected had received only $1.09 billion. According to this study, the delays in these payments have contributed to the spread of the virus and might even have increased financial need. Karen Grepin stressed that global health agencies have struggled to provide reliable estimates of funding needed to fight against the spread of Ebola.   This study revealed that Guinea informed the World Health Organization of an “epidemic rapid development” of Ebola on March 23, 2014, but the first major call for international funding was only launched in August. Further, this first call for funds aimed at mobilizing only $71 million. In mid-September 2014, the United Nations estimated it would cost $1 billion to fight the epidemic. Two months later, this estimate was revised upwards by 50%.   Since December 2013, the Ebola outbreak killed more than 8,800 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.     Written by Ablaye Modou NDIAYE