Médecins Sans Frontières head criticises G7 for lack of urgency over Ebola
MSF’s Joanne Liu says the G7 summit failed to produce any proposals for a rapid response to major epidemics in distant countries
Misha Hussain in Dakar
Tuesday 16 June 2015 02.00 EDT
Aid donors missed a golden opportunity at the G7 summit in Germany to lay out measures for a far more vigorous response to epidemics such as the Ebola outbreak, according to Joanne Liu, the head of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
“There were strong opening remarks from Angela Merkel at the G7, saying we have failed on Ebola, we take full responsibility, but at the end, the recommendations were all watered down,” said Liu.
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The UN’s financial tracking system shows that the scale of giving among G7 states varied greatly. Italy gave 0.3% of the total Ebola budget, while the US contributed about 45% . The UK gave roughly 10%.
But, frustratingly, the $1.7bn of US funding did not reap the rewards it could have, Liu noted.
“Unlike the Cubans, the US were not ready to expose their people. So even though they opened 11 centres with 150 beds each in Liberia, they treated just 28 people, because they deployed late, and refused to staff the centres.
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IF you are willing & obedient , you shall eat the good of the land: But if you refuse & rebel, You shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. Isaiah 1:19, 20