Activities of Soledad CABEZÓN RUIZ related to 2014/2204(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the Ebola crisis: the long-term lessons and how to strengthen health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises
Amendments (23)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. Whereas the World Health Organisation was first alerted by the current outbreak of Ebola virus disease on 23 March 2014, but it was not until 8 August that the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee declared it a public health emergency of international concern.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas since the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was officially declared on 22 March 2014 in Guinea, the disease has claimed 6 387 lives in the disease has claimed 8966 casualties and 22140 confirmed, probable and suspected cases in the region; whereas the health professionals working in the region have been severely hit by the outbreak with a total of 822 confirmed infections and 488 deathes region1 ;ported.1 a . __________________ 1WHO data as at 10 December 2014. 1aWHO Ebola Situation report 4 February 2015
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. Whereas the WHO has just reported that, for the first time this year, the weekly case incidence increased in all three countries; whereas there were 124 new cases reported in the week to 1 February : 39 in Guinea, 5 in Liberia and 80 in Sierra Leone.
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the WHO and the international community underestimated the scope of the outbreak in its beginnings; whereas the outbreak is the largest ever, and is currently affecting fourthree countries in West Africa (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and Mali), while outba); whereaks in Nigeria and Senegal have been declared to be over, and a separate outbreak in the DRC has also ended;Ebola became epidemic in large part because of their weak health systems.
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas thise Ebola epidemic ishas shown to be unpredictable and constantly evolving; recalls that the introduction of a case into unaffected countries remains a risk for as long as cases are reported in any country.
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the quality and strength of health systems have been key to effectively control the outbreak
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. Whereas the European Union has deployed financial assistance worth 1.1 billion euros, of which more than 434 European Commission funds; whereas the WHO has recently called for three measures to eradicate Ebola completely: an extra fund of 1 billion dollars (800 million euros); better coordination and management of emergency situations and ensuring the access of new medicines to the market.
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. Whereas EVD eradication faces significant challenges such as the beginning of the wet season, increasing geographical spread, widespread transmission, continued community resistance and unsafe burials.
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas other elements that are essential to an Ebola response – such as awareness- raising and community acceptance, safe burials, contact tracing, alerts and surveillance, access to health care for non- Ebola patients – are still lacking in parts of West Africa;; whereas the role played by health professionals is key in such emergency circumstances.
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas clinical trialthe EC has launched through the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) eight projects fwor different treatments should be starting soon in West Africa; king on vaccine and diagnostics run under the new Ebola+ programme with a total budget of 215 million euros; recalls that €114 million come from Horizon 2020, and the remaining €101 million from the pharmaceutical companies involved in the projects.
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas clinical trials for different treatments should be starting soon in West Africa;two vaccine candidates currently being tested in humans and both have shown to be safe and efficacious in animals
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas international financial aid was slow in the first instance and ill-adapted later on, encumbered by serious bottleneck; recalls that the WHO approved its Strategic Action Plan for Ebola outbreak response in July 2014 in which it established a 6-9 months’ timeframe to control the outbreak; points that, although there has been a peak in contagious sin terms of staffing;ce February 1, total eradication and "zero contagion" is the ultimate goal.
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Requires thecognises the efforts made by Member States and the Commission to coordinate and strengthen medical research and the production of efficient medicines and vaccines against Ebola, and to advance the necessary clinical trials for existing candidate treatments; however, regrets the fact that Grants Agreements for the Ebola+ projects will be signed after the release of the IMI funds and not beforehand and expects that pharmaceutical companies involved will adhere and respect Corporate Social Responsibility principles, specifically by means of affordability of the innovative vaccine treatment.
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Points out the international community should learn from self- criticism on late response taking into consideration the specific features of this outbreak; stresses the need to continue supporting institutions like the WHO which has proven to be essential at international level for coordinating and boosting public health related issues.
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that the response of the Member States and the Commission has been slow and insufficient, and that financial support was shy and did not respond to the severity of the alerts that NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières and others have launched since the beginning of the epidemic; considers that the scaling-up of the Commission’s financial commitment should be stronger in terms of humanitarian and development aid to respond to the crisis;ve to support WHO recommendations, specifically the creation of an extra fund worth 1 billion dollars to eradicate Ebola; points out that there is marge the manoeuvre to improve coordination and organization in emergency situations inside the EU; therefore considers it necessary to increase the availability and the volume of financial resources; and to ensure the access of innovative medicines to the market.
Amendment 95 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 107 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that the current crisis cannot be solved by health systems alone, but that a concerted approach involving different sectors (healthcare, education and training, sanitation, food aid, drinking water) is needed to address the critical gaps in all essential services; stresses that education, understood in a comprehensive way (also covering the cultural dimension and beliefs of these countries), and not only in terms of understanding and addressing the current Ebola outbreak, is key; recalls its commitments to dedicate 20% of funds available under the DCI to health services.
Amendment 114 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Acknowledges that to reach zero cases, every person who had a high risk contact with someone with Ebola needs to be identified; points out that traceability and monitorisation of contacts are two of the main challenges we confront and recalls quarantine related measures require special support to those affected such as providing food, water or medical care.
Amendment 122 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Congratulates the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), partner organisations and non-governmental humanitarian organisations, such as Médecins Sans Frontières, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent amongst others, for their work done on the ground and warmly welcomes their extensive input and help in controlling this outbreak;
Amendment 137 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to strengthen the health systems in the West African countries affected; stresses that Ebola is definitely a disease with a high mortality rate, but that there are other fatal diseases in the area that should be treated as well (such as malaria); considers that the EU should invest in and encourage capacity building in the field in order to address the problem of the weak health systems, so that local staff may be provided with the training and adequate resources to face future epidemics (Ebola or any other illness); considers that the efforts of third party donors should be channelled into building up capacity in the field; reaffirms that Universal Health Coverage and capacity building assistance to address the requirements of the International Health regulations in all countries are essential to the reinforcement of health systems.
Amendment 146 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Considers that the Members States as well as the EU institutions should assess the opportunity of creating a health professional’s database of trained emergencies specialists’ to be deployed in a timely manner, as well as to assess developing countries in strengthening their public health systems.
Amendment 151 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Encourages taking immediate action to coordinate and strengthen medical research and the production of efficient medicines and vaccines against Ebola and, to carry out scrupulous infection control; and to publish the data regarding vaccines safety and effectiveness; stresses the need of not withdrawing research efforts face to a potential control of the epidemia; expects the Grant Agreements of the Ebola+ programme to be made public regarding its conditions, conditionalities and awarding procedures.