BETA


2014/2204(INI) Ebola crisis: long-term lessons and how to strengthen health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead DEVE GOERENS Charles (icon: ALDE ALDE) PONGA Maurice (icon: PPE PPE), NEUSER Norbert (icon: S&D S&D), DEVA Nirj (icon: ECR ECR), SARGENTINI Judith (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), CORRAO Ignazio (icon: EFDD EFDD)
Committee Opinion ENVI Soledad CABEZÓN RUIZ (icon: S&D S&D), Birgit COLLIN-LANGEN (icon: PPE PPE)
Committee Opinion FEMM JIMÉNEZ-BECERRIL BARRIO Teresa (icon: PPE PPE) Beatriz BECERRA BASTERRECHEA (icon: ALDE ALDE), Stefan ECK (icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL), Beatrix von STORCH (icon: EFDD EFDD)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54

Events

2016/03/15
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2015/10/27
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2015/10/27
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 632 votes to 11, with 38 abstentions, a resolution on the Ebola crisis: the long-term lessons and how to strengthen health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises.

Parliament recalled the magnitude of the Ebola catastrophe can be attributed to several factors, among which:

the political failure of the affected countries to sound the alarm; the ill-adapted response of the international community; the shattering effects of closure of borders and restrictions on people; the ineffectiveness of the surveillance and alert mechanisms; the slow and poorly adapted response once aid was eventually mobilised; the stark absence of leadership from the WHO; the lack of research and development of drugs, diagnostics and vaccines.

With regard to the illness itself, Parliament indicated that still too little was known about the prevalence, transmission and mutation potential of the Ebola virus. Furthermore, widespread confusion and prevailing misunderstandings about the causes and consequences of the illness had perpetuated the spread of the virus.

At the same time, Parliament noted that three new confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease were registered in October 2015, all in Guinea (Sierra Leone and Liberia reported zero cases). There have been 28 512 confirmed cases, including 11 313 confirmed deaths. Therefore, there should be no lowering of the guard in relation to some new cases of Ebola, the mode of transmission of which remains open to question.

Slow response to the virus: Parliament criticised the slow international response to the crisis during the first few months. It stressed, however, the response and commitment of the EU and its Member States since March 2014 to help contain the propagation of the Ebola virus. It welcomed the development of a new vaccine (in record time), which has proven 100 % effective in Guinea as of 23 March 2015, and called for urgent guaranteed access to this vaccine, which should be affordable to everyone in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Learning lessons from the crisis: Parliament called on all parties concerned, particularly governments of developing countries, European institutions and international organisations, to learn from this crisis, including from the negative impacts on health sectors in developing countries of the conditionalities of IMF and World Bank structural adjustment facilities. Members welcomed the establishment of a new emergency programme and a world reserve of staff who could be deployed quickly on the ground, and the establishment of a new reserve fund of USD 100 million specifically for emergencies, and also welcomed the commitment to increase the WHO’s budget by 10 % within two years, bringing it to USD 4.5 billion.

Parliament called on the international community to promote information and education campaigns in the countries concerned.

EU response: Parliament took the view that the EU’s long-term response should focus first on development assistance, which would need to include investment in the health sector to promote resilience, particularly as regards the organisation and management of health systems, health monitoring and information, medicine supply systems, domestic governance and state-building.

It recalled the importance of conflict prevention as conflicts and fragility had a very negative impact on health systems;

Parliament recommended a series of measures:

the establishment of a permanent European rapid response capability comprising experts, laboratory support staff, epidemiologists and logistics facilities, including mobile laboratories, that can be deployed extremely swiftly; screening at land and maritime borders; 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 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 was concerned.

Developing health services in West Africa : Parliament urged the Commission to help the three countries affected to develop their own public health systems in order for them to be able to meet basic healthcare needs and to build up the infrastructure required to ensure that all their citizens have access to public healthcare. It called for the following measures:

investing resources in basic public health services, ensuring safe and quality care by increasing resources to train, supervise and pay health workers adequately and by giving access to safe drugs, engaging local stakeholders and communities in crisis response and development planning.

International donors should increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) to these countries.

It stressed, in general, the need for developing countries to give budgetary priority to setting up robust and resilient public social security and public health systems , building sufficient numbers of well-equipped, sustainable healthcare infrastructure (in particular laboratories, water and sanitation facilities) and offering high-quality basic services and healthcare.

Parliament acknowledged, nevertheless, that crises such as the current one could not be solved by health systems alone, and that a comprehensive approach involving different sectors such as education and training, sanitation, food safety and drinking water, was needed to address the critical gaps in all essential services. It stressed, at the same time, that education, covering cultural dimensions and beliefs, were also key in the recovery.

Parliament also called for research infrastructure to be bolstered by the establishment of a regional public infectious disease research centre in West Africa, and for inter-university cooperation to be established with the participation of the EU and its Member States.

Universal health coverage : Parliament supported the introduction of publicly funded universal health coverage free at the point of use, and urged the Commission to submit as soon as possible a programme for establishing universal health cover, which will guarantee the mutualisation of health risks. It supported the target of scaling-up healthcare spending in all countries to the recognised minimum of USD 86 per person for essential health services.

It also supported the idea of a ‘Marshall Plan’ to help kick-start those countries’ economies, and technical assistance to their administrations to enhance their capacity and to ensure that money reaches the people and was not lost to corruption or other purposes.

Members believed that the programming of the 11th European Development Fund should be reviewed to ensure that investments in health and good governance become priority areas for all countries with fragile public infrastructure.

Access to medicines : Parliament believed that access to medicines should, as a matter of principle, no longer be dependent on patients’ purchasing power but should instead be geared to patients’ needs, and that market forces should not be the sole determinant of which medicines to produce. It called for the EU and its Member States to honour the EU’s ‘Policy Coherence for Development’ principle, set out in Article 208 TFEU though the promotion of fair and equitable international trade , medical research and innovation policies that foster and facilitate universal access to medicines. The Commission is called upon to explore alternative models to those based on patent monopolies when it comes to the development of drugs or vaccines produced by public-private partnerships, such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative, which can guarantee patient accessibility to treatments, sustainability of healthcare budgets and an efficient response to crises such as the one caused by the Ebola virus or similar threats.

Members stressed the importance of increasing global epidemiological research capacity, developing ‘quick tests’ and providing access to vaccines. They underlined that, although vaccines were welcome, they were most probably not suitable to eradicate Ebola, as the virus was mutating, so funding priority had to be given to general health system strengthening, hygiene, containment, reliable quick testing in tropical settings and medication targeting the virus and the symptoms it caused.

Investing in neglected diseases : Parliament reiterated the need to invest in neglected diseases. It called, in this context, on the Commission to continue the discussions on this issue and to make arrangements for wide-ranging cooperation between the public and private sectors, provided that safeguards were introduced to prevent public-private partnerships from harming vulnerable people in an unregulated market. It welcomed in this regard the fact that, to address the urgent need for research into new treatments, the EU had made available EUR 138 million for projects developing clinical trials for new vaccines, rapid diagnostic tests and treatments under Horizon 2020 and the Innovative Medicines Initiative.

Family planning : Parliament stressed that now that the outbreak is in decline, while the virus stays in the gonads for months after recovery, sexual counselling and family planning has to be made available as part of the health system and education measures.

Lastly, Parliament stressed that Ebola and other epidemics were transnational threats that called for international cooperation. It called on the WHO to revise the World Health Organisation’s International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005 with a view to incorporating interdependent responsibility and financial support, including for addressing root causes.

Documents
2015/10/27
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2015/10/26
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2015/10/01
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details

The Committee on Development adopted the own-initiative report by Charles GOERENS (ADLE, LU) on the Ebola crisis: the long-term lessons and how to strengthen health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises.

Members recalled the magnitude of the Ebola catastrophe can be attributed to several factors, among which:

the political failure of the affected countries to sound the alarm; the ill-adapted response of the international community; the shattering effects of closure of borders and restrictions on people; the ineffectiveness of the surveillance and alert mechanisms; the slow and poorly adapted response once aid was eventually mobilised; the stark absence of leadership from the WHO; the lack of research and development of drugs, diagnostics and vaccines.

With regard to the illness itself, Members indicated that still too little was known about the prevalence, transmission and mutation potential of the Ebola virus. Furthermore, widespread confusion and prevailing misunderstandings about the causes and consequences of the illness had perpetuated the spread of the virus.

Slow response to the virus: Members criticised the slow international response to the crisis during the first few months. They stressed, however, the response and commitment of the EU and its Member States since March 2014 to help contain the propagation of the Ebola virus. They welcomed the development of a new vaccine (in record time), which has proven 100 % effective in Guinea as of 23 March 2015, and called for urgent guaranteed access to this vaccine, which should be affordable to everyone in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Learning lessons from the crisis: Members called on all parties concerned, particularly governments of developing countries, European institutions and international organisations, to learn from this crisis, including from the negative impacts on health sectors in developing countries of the conditionalities of IMF and World Bank structural adjustment facilities.

They welcomed the establishment of a new emergency programme and a world reserve of staff who could be deployed quickly on the ground, and the establishment of a new reserve fund of USD 100 million specifically for emergencies, and also welcomed the commitment to increase the WHO’s budget by 10 % within two years, bringing it to USD 4.5 billion.

The committee called on the international community to promote information and education campaigns in the countries concerned.

EU response: Members took the view that the EU’s long-term response should focus first on development assistance, which would need to include investment in the health sector to promote resilience, particularly as regards the organisation and management of health systems, health monitoring and information, medicine supply systems, domestic governance and state-building.

They recalled the importance of conflict prevention as conflicts and fragility had a very negative impact on health systems;

The committee recommended a series of measures:

the establishment of a permanent European rapid response capability comprising experts, laboratory support staff, epidemiologists and logistics facilities, including mobile laboratories, that can be deployed extremely swiftly; screening at land and maritime borders; 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 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 was concerned.

Developing health services in West Africa : Members called for the development of infrastructure required to ensure that all the citizens of the countries affected have access to public healthcare, based on the following:

investing resources in basic public health services; ensuring safe and quality care by increasing resources to train, supervise and pay health workers adequately and by giving access to safe drugs; engaging local stakeholders and communities in crisis response and development planning.

The report also called on international donors to increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) to these countries.

It stressed, in general, the need for developing countries to give budgetary priority to setting up robust and resilient public social security and public health systems , building sufficient numbers of well-equipped, sustainable healthcare infrastructure (in particular laboratories, water and sanitation facilities) and offering high-quality basic services and healthcare.

Members acknowledged, nevertheless, that crises such as the current one could not be solved by health systems alone, and that a comprehensive approach involving different sectors such as education and training, sanitation, food safety and drinking water, was needed to address the critical gaps in all essential services. They stressed, at the same time, that education, covering cultural dimensions and beliefs, were also key in the recovery.

They called for research infrastructure to be bolstered by the establishment of a regional public infectious disease research centre in West Africa, and for inter-university cooperation to be established with the participation of the EU and its Member States.

Universal health coverage : Members supported the introduction of publicly funded universal health coverage free at the point of use, and urged the Commission to submit as soon as possible a programme for establishing universal health cover, which will guarantee the mutualisation of health risks. They supported the target of scaling-up healthcare spending in all countries to the recognised minimum of USD 86 per person for essential health services.

They also supported the idea of a ‘Marshall Plan’ to help kick-start those countries’ economies, and technical assistance to their administrations to enhance their capacity and to ensure that money reaches the people and was not lost to corruption or other purposes.

The committee believed that the programming of the 11th European Development Fund should be reviewed to ensure that investments in health and good governance become priority areas for all countries with fragile public infrastructure.

Access to medicines : Members believed that access to medicines should, as a matter of principle, no longer be dependent on patients’ purchasing power but should instead be geared to patients’ needs, and that market forces should not be the sole determinant of which medicines to produce. They called for the EU and its Member States to honour the EU’s ‘Policy Coherence for Development’ principle, set out in Article 208 TFEU though the promotion of fair and equitable international trade , medical research and innovation policies that foster and facilitate universal access to medicines. The committee called on the Commission to explore alternative models to those based on patent monopolies when it came to the development of drugs or vaccines produced by public-private partnerships, such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative.

It stressed the importance of increasing global epidemiological research capacity, developing ‘quick tests’ and providing access to vaccines. Members underlined that, although vaccines were welcome, they were most probably not suitable to eradicate Ebola, as the virus was mutating, so funding priority had to be given to general health system strengthening, hygiene, containment, reliable quick testing in tropical settings and medication targeting the virus and the symptoms it caused.

Investing in neglected diseases : Members reiterated the need to invest in neglected diseases. They called, in this context, on the Commission to continue the discussions on this issue and to make arrangements for wide-ranging cooperation between the public and private sectors, provided that safeguards were introduced to prevent public-private partnerships from harming vulnerable people in an unregulated market. They welcomed in this regard the fact that, to address the urgent need for research into new treatments, the EU had made available EUR 138 million for projects developing clinical trials for new vaccines, rapid diagnostic tests and treatments under Horizon 2020 and the Innovative Medicines Initiative.

Lastly, Members stressed that Ebola and other epidemics were transnational threats that called for international cooperation. They called on the WHO to revise the World Health Organisation’s International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005 with a view to incorporating interdependent responsibility and financial support, including for addressing root causes.

Documents
2015/09/22
   EP - Vote in committee
2015/05/28
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2015/04/29
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2015/03/27
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2015/03/16
   CSL - Resolution/conclusions adopted by Council
2015/03/16
   CSL - Council Meeting
2015/03/04
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2014/12/17
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2014/12/15
   CSL - Debate in Council
Documents
2014/12/15
   CSL - Council Meeting
2014/11/20
   EP - JIMÉNEZ-BECERRIL BARRIO Teresa (PPE) appointed as rapporteur in FEMM
2014/10/07
   EP - GOERENS Charles (ALDE) appointed as rapporteur in DEVE

Documents

Activities

Votes

A8-0281/2015 - Charles Goerens - Résolution #

2015/10/27 Outcome: +: 632, 0: 38, -: 11
DE IT FR GB ES PL RO BE AT HU NL CZ PT SE BG FI DK SK IE EL HR LT LV SI EE MT LU CY ??
Total
90
69
63
71
44
48
29
19
18
18
23
18
20
17
14
12
12
13
10
17
9
8
8
8
6
6
5
5
1
icon: PPE PPE
199

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Lithuania PPE

1

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg PPE

2
icon: S&D S&D
173

Netherlands S&D

For (1)

1

Ireland S&D

For (1)

1

Croatia S&D

2

Latvia S&D

1

Slovenia S&D

For (1)

1

Estonia S&D

For (1)

1

Malta S&D

3

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Cyprus S&D

For (1)

1
icon: ALDE ALDE
62

United Kingdom ALDE

1

Romania ALDE

2

Austria ALDE

For (1)

1

Sweden ALDE

2

Bulgaria ALDE

3

Denmark ALDE

3

Ireland ALDE

For (1)

1

Croatia ALDE

2

Latvia ALDE

1

Slovenia ALDE

For (1)

1

Estonia ALDE

3

Luxembourg ALDE

For (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
64

Italy ECR

2

Netherlands ECR

2

Czechia ECR

1

Bulgaria ECR

1

Finland ECR

1

Slovakia ECR

Abstain (1)

3

Greece ECR

For (1)

1

Latvia ECR

For (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
47

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Hungary Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Netherlands Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Finland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Denmark Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Croatia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Lithuania Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Slovenia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Estonia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
47

Italy GUE/NGL

2

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

1

Netherlands GUE/NGL

For (1)

3

Czechia GUE/NGL

1

Portugal GUE/NGL

For (1)

4

Sweden GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Finland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Denmark GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2

GUE/NGL

For (1)

1
icon: ENF ENF
36

United Kingdom ENF

Abstain (1)

1

Poland ENF

2

Romania ENF

1

Belgium ENF

Abstain (1)

1

Netherlands ENF

4
icon: EFDD EFDD
43

France EFDD

1

Poland EFDD

1

Czechia EFDD

Abstain (1)

1

Sweden EFDD

2

Lithuania EFDD

For (1)

1
icon: NI NI
10

Germany NI

For (1)

1

United Kingdom NI

For (1)

1

Poland NI

Against (1)

1
AmendmentsDossier
395 2014/2204(INI)
2015/02/06 FEMM 73 amendments...
source: 549.158
2015/02/12 ENVI 165 amendments...
source: 549.196
2015/05/28 DEVE 157 amendments...
source: 557.184

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

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  • body: CSL type: Council Meeting council: Foreign Affairs meeting_id: 3361 url: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/content/out?lang=EN&typ=SET&i=SMPL&ROWSPP=25&RESULTSET=1&NRROWS=500&DOC_LANCD=EN&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC&CONTENTS=3361*&MEET_DATE=15/12/2014 date: 2014-12-15T00:00:00
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  • date: 2015-03-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE544.351&secondRef=02 title: PE544.351 committee: FEMM type: Committee opinion body: EP
  • date: 2015-03-27T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE544.486&secondRef=02 title: PE544.486 committee: ENVI type: Committee opinion body: EP
  • date: 2015-04-29T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE552.141 title: PE552.141 type: Committee draft report body: EP
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  • date: 2014-12-15T00:00:00 type: Debate in Council body: CSL docs: url: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/content/out?lang=EN&typ=SET&i=SMPL&ROWSPP=25&RESULTSET=1&NRROWS=500&DOC_LANCD=EN&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC&CONTENTS=3361*&MEET_DATE=15/12/2014 title: 3361
  • date: 2014-12-17T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2015-03-16T00:00:00 type: Resolution/conclusions adopted by Council body: CSL
  • date: 2015-09-22T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2015-10-01T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A8-2015-0281&language=EN title: A8-0281/2015 summary: The Committee on Development adopted the own-initiative report by Charles GOERENS (ADLE, LU) on the Ebola crisis: the long-term lessons and how to strengthen health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises. Members recalled the magnitude of the Ebola catastrophe can be attributed to several factors, among which: the political failure of the affected countries to sound the alarm; the ill-adapted response of the international community; the shattering effects of closure of borders and restrictions on people; the ineffectiveness of the surveillance and alert mechanisms; the slow and poorly adapted response once aid was eventually mobilised; the stark absence of leadership from the WHO; the lack of research and development of drugs, diagnostics and vaccines. With regard to the illness itself, Members indicated that still too little was known about the prevalence, transmission and mutation potential of the Ebola virus. Furthermore, widespread confusion and prevailing misunderstandings about the causes and consequences of the illness had perpetuated the spread of the virus. Slow response to the virus: Members criticised the slow international response to the crisis during the first few months. They stressed, however, the response and commitment of the EU and its Member States since March 2014 to help contain the propagation of the Ebola virus. They welcomed the development of a new vaccine (in record time), which has proven 100 % effective in Guinea as of 23 March 2015, and called for urgent guaranteed access to this vaccine, which should be affordable to everyone in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Learning lessons from the crisis: Members called on all parties concerned, particularly governments of developing countries, European institutions and international organisations, to learn from this crisis, including from the negative impacts on health sectors in developing countries of the conditionalities of IMF and World Bank structural adjustment facilities. They welcomed the establishment of a new emergency programme and a world reserve of staff who could be deployed quickly on the ground, and the establishment of a new reserve fund of USD 100 million specifically for emergencies, and also welcomed the commitment to increase the WHO’s budget by 10 % within two years, bringing it to USD 4.5 billion. The committee called on the international community to promote information and education campaigns in the countries concerned. EU response: Members took the view that the EU’s long-term response should focus first on development assistance, which would need to include investment in the health sector to promote resilience, particularly as regards the organisation and management of health systems, health monitoring and information, medicine supply systems, domestic governance and state-building. They recalled the importance of conflict prevention as conflicts and fragility had a very negative impact on health systems; The committee recommended a series of measures: the establishment of a permanent European rapid response capability comprising experts, laboratory support staff, epidemiologists and logistics facilities, including mobile laboratories, that can be deployed extremely swiftly; screening at land and maritime borders; 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 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 was concerned. Developing health services in West Africa : Members called for the development of infrastructure required to ensure that all the citizens of the countries affected have access to public healthcare, based on the following: investing resources in basic public health services; ensuring safe and quality care by increasing resources to train, supervise and pay health workers adequately and by giving access to safe drugs; engaging local stakeholders and communities in crisis response and development planning. The report also called on international donors to increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) to these countries. It stressed, in general, the need for developing countries to give budgetary priority to setting up robust and resilient public social security and public health systems , building sufficient numbers of well-equipped, sustainable healthcare infrastructure (in particular laboratories, water and sanitation facilities) and offering high-quality basic services and healthcare. Members acknowledged, nevertheless, that crises such as the current one could not be solved by health systems alone, and that a comprehensive approach involving different sectors such as education and training, sanitation, food safety and drinking water, was needed to address the critical gaps in all essential services. They stressed, at the same time, that education, covering cultural dimensions and beliefs, were also key in the recovery. They called for research infrastructure to be bolstered by the establishment of a regional public infectious disease research centre in West Africa, and for inter-university cooperation to be established with the participation of the EU and its Member States. Universal health coverage : Members supported the introduction of publicly funded universal health coverage free at the point of use, and urged the Commission to submit as soon as possible a programme for establishing universal health cover, which will guarantee the mutualisation of health risks. They supported the target of scaling-up healthcare spending in all countries to the recognised minimum of USD 86 per person for essential health services. They also supported the idea of a ‘Marshall Plan’ to help kick-start those countries’ economies, and technical assistance to their administrations to enhance their capacity and to ensure that money reaches the people and was not lost to corruption or other purposes. The committee believed that the programming of the 11th European Development Fund should be reviewed to ensure that investments in health and good governance become priority areas for all countries with fragile public infrastructure. Access to medicines : Members believed that access to medicines should, as a matter of principle, no longer be dependent on patients’ purchasing power but should instead be geared to patients’ needs, and that market forces should not be the sole determinant of which medicines to produce. They called for the EU and its Member States to honour the EU’s ‘Policy Coherence for Development’ principle, set out in Article 208 TFEU though the promotion of fair and equitable international trade , medical research and innovation policies that foster and facilitate universal access to medicines. The committee called on the Commission to explore alternative models to those based on patent monopolies when it came to the development of drugs or vaccines produced by public-private partnerships, such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative. It stressed the importance of increasing global epidemiological research capacity, developing ‘quick tests’ and providing access to vaccines. Members underlined that, although vaccines were welcome, they were most probably not suitable to eradicate Ebola, as the virus was mutating, so funding priority had to be given to general health system strengthening, hygiene, containment, reliable quick testing in tropical settings and medication targeting the virus and the symptoms it caused. Investing in neglected diseases : Members reiterated the need to invest in neglected diseases. They called, in this context, on the Commission to continue the discussions on this issue and to make arrangements for wide-ranging cooperation between the public and private sectors, provided that safeguards were introduced to prevent public-private partnerships from harming vulnerable people in an unregulated market. They welcomed in this regard the fact that, to address the urgent need for research into new treatments, the EU had made available EUR 138 million for projects developing clinical trials for new vaccines, rapid diagnostic tests and treatments under Horizon 2020 and the Innovative Medicines Initiative. Lastly, Members stressed that Ebola and other epidemics were transnational threats that called for international cooperation. They called on the WHO to revise the World Health Organisation’s International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005 with a view to incorporating interdependent responsibility and financial support, including for addressing root causes.
  • date: 2015-10-26T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20151026&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2015-10-27T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=26197&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2015-10-27T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2015-0374 title: T8-0374/2015 summary: The European Parliament adopted by 632 votes to 11, with 38 abstentions, a resolution on the Ebola crisis: the long-term lessons and how to strengthen health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises. Parliament recalled the magnitude of the Ebola catastrophe can be attributed to several factors, among which: the political failure of the affected countries to sound the alarm; the ill-adapted response of the international community; the shattering effects of closure of borders and restrictions on people; the ineffectiveness of the surveillance and alert mechanisms; the slow and poorly adapted response once aid was eventually mobilised; the stark absence of leadership from the WHO; the lack of research and development of drugs, diagnostics and vaccines. With regard to the illness itself, Parliament indicated that still too little was known about the prevalence, transmission and mutation potential of the Ebola virus. Furthermore, widespread confusion and prevailing misunderstandings about the causes and consequences of the illness had perpetuated the spread of the virus. At the same time, Parliament noted that three new confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease were registered in October 2015, all in Guinea (Sierra Leone and Liberia reported zero cases). There have been 28 512 confirmed cases, including 11 313 confirmed deaths. Therefore, there should be no lowering of the guard in relation to some new cases of Ebola, the mode of transmission of which remains open to question. Slow response to the virus: Parliament criticised the slow international response to the crisis during the first few months. It stressed, however, the response and commitment of the EU and its Member States since March 2014 to help contain the propagation of the Ebola virus. It welcomed the development of a new vaccine (in record time), which has proven 100 % effective in Guinea as of 23 March 2015, and called for urgent guaranteed access to this vaccine, which should be affordable to everyone in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Learning lessons from the crisis: Parliament called on all parties concerned, particularly governments of developing countries, European institutions and international organisations, to learn from this crisis, including from the negative impacts on health sectors in developing countries of the conditionalities of IMF and World Bank structural adjustment facilities. Members welcomed the establishment of a new emergency programme and a world reserve of staff who could be deployed quickly on the ground, and the establishment of a new reserve fund of USD 100 million specifically for emergencies, and also welcomed the commitment to increase the WHO’s budget by 10 % within two years, bringing it to USD 4.5 billion. Parliament called on the international community to promote information and education campaigns in the countries concerned. EU response: Parliament took the view that the EU’s long-term response should focus first on development assistance, which would need to include investment in the health sector to promote resilience, particularly as regards the organisation and management of health systems, health monitoring and information, medicine supply systems, domestic governance and state-building. It recalled the importance of conflict prevention as conflicts and fragility had a very negative impact on health systems; Parliament recommended a series of measures: the establishment of a permanent European rapid response capability comprising experts, laboratory support staff, epidemiologists and logistics facilities, including mobile laboratories, that can be deployed extremely swiftly; screening at land and maritime borders; 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 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 was concerned. Developing health services in West Africa : Parliament urged the Commission to help the three countries affected to develop their own public health systems in order for them to be able to meet basic healthcare needs and to build up the infrastructure required to ensure that all their citizens have access to public healthcare. It called for the following measures: investing resources in basic public health services, ensuring safe and quality care by increasing resources to train, supervise and pay health workers adequately and by giving access to safe drugs, engaging local stakeholders and communities in crisis response and development planning. International donors should increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) to these countries. It stressed, in general, the need for developing countries to give budgetary priority to setting up robust and resilient public social security and public health systems , building sufficient numbers of well-equipped, sustainable healthcare infrastructure (in particular laboratories, water and sanitation facilities) and offering high-quality basic services and healthcare. Parliament acknowledged, nevertheless, that crises such as the current one could not be solved by health systems alone, and that a comprehensive approach involving different sectors such as education and training, sanitation, food safety and drinking water, was needed to address the critical gaps in all essential services. It stressed, at the same time, that education, covering cultural dimensions and beliefs, were also key in the recovery. Parliament also called for research infrastructure to be bolstered by the establishment of a regional public infectious disease research centre in West Africa, and for inter-university cooperation to be established with the participation of the EU and its Member States. Universal health coverage : Parliament supported the introduction of publicly funded universal health coverage free at the point of use, and urged the Commission to submit as soon as possible a programme for establishing universal health cover, which will guarantee the mutualisation of health risks. It supported the target of scaling-up healthcare spending in all countries to the recognised minimum of USD 86 per person for essential health services. It also supported the idea of a ‘Marshall Plan’ to help kick-start those countries’ economies, and technical assistance to their administrations to enhance their capacity and to ensure that money reaches the people and was not lost to corruption or other purposes. Members believed that the programming of the 11th European Development Fund should be reviewed to ensure that investments in health and good governance become priority areas for all countries with fragile public infrastructure. Access to medicines : Parliament believed that access to medicines should, as a matter of principle, no longer be dependent on patients’ purchasing power but should instead be geared to patients’ needs, and that market forces should not be the sole determinant of which medicines to produce. It called for the EU and its Member States to honour the EU’s ‘Policy Coherence for Development’ principle, set out in Article 208 TFEU though the promotion of fair and equitable international trade , medical research and innovation policies that foster and facilitate universal access to medicines. The Commission is called upon to explore alternative models to those based on patent monopolies when it comes to the development of drugs or vaccines produced by public-private partnerships, such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative, which can guarantee patient accessibility to treatments, sustainability of healthcare budgets and an efficient response to crises such as the one caused by the Ebola virus or similar threats. Members stressed the importance of increasing global epidemiological research capacity, developing ‘quick tests’ and providing access to vaccines. They underlined that, although vaccines were welcome, they were most probably not suitable to eradicate Ebola, as the virus was mutating, so funding priority had to be given to general health system strengthening, hygiene, containment, reliable quick testing in tropical settings and medication targeting the virus and the symptoms it caused. Investing in neglected diseases : Parliament reiterated the need to invest in neglected diseases. It called, in this context, on the Commission to continue the discussions on this issue and to make arrangements for wide-ranging cooperation between the public and private sectors, provided that safeguards were introduced to prevent public-private partnerships from harming vulnerable people in an unregulated market. It welcomed in this regard the fact that, to address the urgent need for research into new treatments, the EU had made available EUR 138 million for projects developing clinical trials for new vaccines, rapid diagnostic tests and treatments under Horizon 2020 and the Innovative Medicines Initiative. Family planning : Parliament stressed that now that the outbreak is in decline, while the virus stays in the gonads for months after recovery, sexual counselling and family planning has to be made available as part of the health system and education measures. Lastly, Parliament stressed that Ebola and other epidemics were transnational threats that called for international cooperation. It called on the WHO to revise the World Health Organisation’s International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005 with a view to incorporating interdependent responsibility and financial support, including for addressing root causes.
  • date: 2015-10-27T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
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  • The Committee on Development adopted the own-initiative report by Charles GOERENS (ADLE, LU) on the Ebola crisis: the long-term lessons and how to strengthen health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises.

    Members recalled the magnitude of the Ebola catastrophe can be attributed to several factors, among which:

    • the political failure of the affected countries to sound the alarm;
    • the ill-adapted response of the international community;
    • the shattering effects of closure of borders and restrictions on people;
    • the ineffectiveness of the surveillance and alert mechanisms;
    • the slow and poorly adapted response once aid was eventually mobilised;
    • the stark absence of leadership from the WHO;
    • the lack of research and development of drugs, diagnostics and vaccines.

    With regard to the illness itself, Members indicated that still too little was known about the prevalence, transmission and mutation potential of the Ebola virus. Furthermore, widespread confusion and prevailing misunderstandings about the causes and consequences of the illness had perpetuated the spread of the virus.

    Slow response to the virus: Members criticised the slow international response to the crisis during the first few months. They stressed, however, the response and commitment of the EU and its Member States since March 2014 to help contain the propagation of the Ebola virus. They welcomed the development of a new vaccine (in record time), which has proven 100 % effective in Guinea as of 23 March 2015, and called for urgent guaranteed access to this vaccine, which should be affordable to everyone in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    Learning lessons from the crisis: Members called on all parties concerned, particularly governments of developing countries, European institutions and international organisations, to learn from this crisis, including from the negative impacts on health sectors in developing countries of the conditionalities of IMF and World Bank structural adjustment facilities.

    They welcomed the establishment of a new emergency programme and a world reserve of staff who could be deployed quickly on the ground, and the establishment of a new reserve fund of USD 100 million specifically for emergencies, and also welcomed the commitment to increase the WHO’s budget by 10 % within two years, bringing it to USD 4.5 billion.

    The committee called on the international community to promote information and education campaigns in the countries concerned.

    EU response: Members took the view that the EU’s long-term response should focus first on development assistance, which would need to include investment in the health sector to promote resilience, particularly as regards the organisation and management of health systems, health monitoring and information, medicine supply systems, domestic governance and state-building.

    They recalled the importance of conflict prevention as conflicts and fragility had a very negative impact on health systems;

    The committee recommended a series of measures:

    • the establishment of a permanent European rapid response capability comprising experts, laboratory support staff, epidemiologists and logistics facilities, including mobile laboratories, that can be deployed extremely swiftly;
    • screening at land and maritime borders;
    • 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
    • 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 was concerned.

    Developing health services in West Africa: Members called for the development of infrastructure required to ensure that all the citizens of the countries affected have access to public healthcare, based on the following:

    • investing resources in basic public health services;
    • ensuring safe and quality care by increasing resources to train, supervise and pay health workers adequately and by giving access to safe drugs;
    • engaging local stakeholders and communities in crisis response and development planning.

    The report also called on international donors to increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) to these countries. 

    It stressed, in general, the need for developing countries to give budgetary priority to setting up robust and resilient public social security and public health systems, building sufficient numbers of well-equipped, sustainable healthcare infrastructure (in particular laboratories, water and sanitation facilities) and offering high-quality basic services and healthcare.

    Members acknowledged, nevertheless, that crises such as the current one could not be solved by health systems alone, and that a comprehensive approach involving different sectors such as education and training, sanitation, food safety and drinking water, was needed to address the critical gaps in all essential services. They stressed, at the same time, that education, covering cultural dimensions and beliefs, were also key in the recovery.

    They called for research infrastructure to be bolstered by the establishment of a regional public infectious disease research centre in West Africa, and for inter-university cooperation to be established with the participation of the EU and its Member States.

    Universal health coverage: Members supported the introduction of publicly funded universal health coverage free at the point of use, and urged the Commission to submit as soon as possible a programme for establishing universal health cover, which will guarantee the mutualisation of health risks. They supported the target of scaling-up healthcare spending in all countries to the recognised minimum of USD 86 per person for essential health services.

    They also supported the idea of a ‘Marshall Plan’ to help kick-start those countries’ economies, and technical assistance to their administrations to enhance their capacity and to ensure that money reaches the people and was not lost to corruption or other purposes.

    The committee believed that the programming of the 11th European Development Fund should be reviewed to ensure that investments in health and good governance become priority areas for all countries with fragile public infrastructure.

    Access to medicines: Members believed that access to medicines should, as a matter of principle, no longer be dependent on patients’ purchasing power but should instead be geared to patients’ needs, and that market forces should not be the sole determinant of which medicines to produce. They called for the EU and its Member States to honour the EU’s ‘Policy Coherence for Development’ principle, set out in Article 208 TFEU though the promotion of fair and equitable international trade, medical research and innovation policies that foster and facilitate universal access to medicines. The committee called on the Commission to explore alternative models to those based on patent monopolies when it came to the development of drugs or vaccines produced by public-private partnerships, such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative.

    It stressed the importance of increasing global epidemiological research capacity, developing ‘quick tests’ and providing access to vaccines. Members underlined that, although vaccines were welcome, they were most probably not suitable to eradicate Ebola, as the virus was mutating, so funding priority had to be given to general health system strengthening, hygiene, containment, reliable quick testing in tropical settings and medication targeting the virus and the symptoms it caused.

    Investing in neglected diseases: Members reiterated the need to invest in neglected diseases. They called, in this context, on the Commission to continue the discussions on this issue and to make arrangements for wide-ranging cooperation between the public and private sectors, provided that safeguards were introduced to prevent public-private partnerships from harming vulnerable people in an unregulated market. They welcomed in this regard the fact that, to address the urgent need for research into new treatments, the EU had made available EUR 138 million for projects developing clinical trials for new vaccines, rapid diagnostic tests and treatments under Horizon 2020 and the Innovative Medicines Initiative.

    Lastly, Members stressed that Ebola and other epidemics were transnational threats that called for international cooperation. They called on the WHO to revise the World Health Organisation’s International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005 with a view to incorporating interdependent responsibility and financial support, including for addressing root causes.

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meeting_id
3379
other/0
body
CSL
type
Council Meeting
council
Former Council configuration
activities/2
date
2015-09-07T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
other/0/dg/title
Old
EuropeAid Development and Cooperation
New
International Cooperation and Development
activities/1/committees/0/shadows/6
group
NI
name
JANSEN Hans
committees/0/shadows/6
group
NI
name
JANSEN Hans
activities/1
date
2014-12-17T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
committees
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
DEVE/8/02133
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Preparatory phase in Parliament
New
Awaiting committee decision
activities
  • body: CSL meeting_id: 3361 docs: url: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/content/out?lang=EN&typ=SET&i=SMPL&ROWSPP=25&RESULTSET=1&NRROWS=500&DOC_LANCD=EN&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC&CONTENTS=3361*&MEET_DATE=15/12/2014 type: Debate in Council title: 3361 council: Foreign Affairs date: 2014-12-15T00:00:00 type: Council Meeting
committees
  • body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: PONGA Maurice group: S&D name: NEUSER Norbert group: ECR name: DEVA Nirj group: GUE/NGL name: SÁNCHEZ CALDENTEY Lola group: Verts/ALE name: SARGENTINI Judith group: EFD name: CORRAO Ignazio responsible: True committee: DEVE date: 2014-10-07T00:00:00 committee_full: Development rapporteur: group: ALDE name: GOERENS Charles
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: ENVI date: 2014-11-13T00:00:00 committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur: group: GUE/NGL name: JUARISTI ABAUNZ Josu
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: FEMM date: 2014-11-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Women’s Rights and Gender Equality rapporteur: group: EPP name: JIMÉNEZ-BECERRIL BARRIO Teresa
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/ title: EuropeAid Development and Cooperation commissioner: MIMICA Neven
procedure
reference
2014/2204(INI)
title
Ebola crisis: long-term lessons and how to strengthen health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises
legal_basis
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 052
stage_reached
Preparatory phase in Parliament
subtype
Initiative
type
INI - Own-initiative procedure
subject