Activities of Maurice PONGA related to 2014/2204(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Ebola crisis: long-term lessons (debate) FR
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the Ebola crisis: the long-term lessons and how to strengthen health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises PDF (204 KB) DOC (168 KB)
Amendments (27)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 a (new)
Citation 5 a (new)
– having regard to the WHO statement of 9 May 2015 declaring the Ebola virus in Liberia to be over,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas there are structural shortcomings in the health and education systems, in particular cluding the area oftraining of medical personnel, and in health education, in the three countries affected by the epidemic (Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea), which are also among those at the bottom of the UNDP's human development index, with around 80% of the countries' citizens living in extreme poverty;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas people are still being infected with the virus in many parts of Guinea and Sierra Leone, while in Liberia the fact that there have beenWHO declared the Ebola virus over after detecting no new cases overf the last month allows one to be cautiously optimistic that the worst may be overdisease for 42 days;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas by 14 April6 May 2015 more than 10 6991 000 had died in the epidemic in the three countries concerned and whereas economic growth in those countries has been severely affected by the health crisis;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the Ebola epidemic which affected West Africa is the largest and most complex outbreak in the history of the disease; whereas the WHO was first alerted to the outbreak of Ebola on 23 March 2014, but whereas it was only on 8 August that the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee declared it a public health emergency of international concern; whereas prior to this outbreak, Ebola had not been considered a major public health challenge;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas in the first few months of the Ebola crisis, the humanitarian NGOs – Médecins Sans Frontières and the Red Cross in particular – were the most effective, best-informed and most experienced players and those most capable oferefore playinged a front-line role in initial efforts to combat the virus;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas with their know-how and their ability to work together, the humanitarian organisations showed that, when it is necessary at the start of a crisis, they can be morevery relevant and more effective than the 'institutional players';
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas the Ebola crisis has resulted in another problem which Médecins Sans Frontières has referred to as 'a crisis within a crisis', namely that people with conditions other than Ebola are not going to hospital for fear that they will be infected with the virus;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas the European Union and its Member States have allocated more than EUR 1.3 billion to tackle the Ebola virus, supplemented by aid provided directly in kind to the affected countries;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the European Council has appointed an Ebola coordinator on 23 October 2014 in the person of the Commissioner responsible for humanitarian aid and crisis management, Mr Stylianides; whereas since 12 November 2014 he has visited the countries most affected, accompanied by the Commissioner for Health, Mr Andriukaitis;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas access to medicines and to research and development findings in this area must be geared exclusively, as a priority, to the needs of sufferers, whether in Europe or in developing countries;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas the Ebola crisis has dragged the countries in the area affected into recession and whereas in 2015 alone, according to the World Bank, the GDP of the three countries worst affected will be reduced by USD 2 bn as a result;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. CriticiStresses the international community's failure to react properly, or at all,response and commitment of the European Union and its Member States since March 2014 to help contain the propagation of the Ebola virus, but nonetheless deplores the slow international response to the crisis during the first few months of the crisis;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the heads of international organisations to learn from this situationcrisis and to develop effective means of dealing with international health crises;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. In this context, notes the reform announced by the Director of the WHO on 18 May 2015, particularly the establishment of a new emergency programme and a world reserve of staff who can be deployed quickly on the ground, and the establishment of a new reserve fund of USD 100 m specifically for emergencies; welcomes the commitment to increase the WHO’s budget by 10% within two years, bringing it to USD 4.5 bn;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Takes the view that, once emergency assistance is no longer required, the EU’s long-term response should focus first on development assistance, which will need to include investment in the health and other sectors, particularly the organisation and management of health systems, health monitoring and information or systems to supply medicines, and then on the assistance that is essential in order to get the three countries' economies back on their feet;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls also on the European Union to support the establishment of a network of monitoring points in developing countries to make it possible to detect as quickly as possible new cases of infectious disease which have the potential to develop into pandemics, in order to create a sentinel network in those countries;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Recognises the need to support the establishment of cooperation between the EU and its Member States and developing countries, in particular those of West Africa, as far as training medical staff is concerned;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses, in general, the need for developing countries to give budgetary priority to setting up robust and resilient social security and health systems, building sustainable healthcare infrastructure (in particular laboratories) and offering high- quality basic services and healthcare;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Points out that investment in the health sector is an important driver of economic development and contributes to poverty reduction in developing countries; welcomes the inclusion of Goal 3 ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’ in the proposal for future Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), due to be adopted in September by the United Nations;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the importance of augmenting global epidemiological research capacity, developing 'quick tests' and providing access to vaccines; welcomes, in this regard, the fact that many EU research funds have been mobilised to fight against the Ebola virus, including through the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), the Horizon 2020 programme and the EDCTP programme;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls for research infrastructure to be bolstered by the establishment of a regional infection disease research centre in West Africa and for inter-university cooperation to be established with the EU and its Member States;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Believes that European Development Fund programming for the three countries will need to be reviewed to take account of the numerous challenges to which the Ebola crisis has given risthe programming of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) should be reviewed to ensure that investments in health and good governance become priority areas for development funding, not only for the countries affected by the Ebola virus but also for all other countries with fragile public infrastructure;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Commendngratulates the humanitarian aid workers and medical staff on the ground who have risked their lives in the efforts to contain this major health crisis;