Ebola ignored for 40 years because it happened in ‘forgotten world’

The cost of dealing with the Ebola outbreak was nearly three times what it would have cost to build a universal health service in the three affected countries, the Institute of International and European Affairs has heard.

Kanayo Nwanze, president of the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development, told a seminar at the Dublin institute that he could give many examples of how it cost so much more to pay for an emergency response than to fix a problem at an early stage. "Ebola is not new," he said. "It first occurred in the '70s in Congo, then Zaire. But it was ignored for 40 years because it happened in some rural areas . . . it happened to people who are not normally seen by the politicians or by the media . . . what we call the forgotten world."

He said it was only when Ebola crossed the African deserts into Europe and crossed the ocean into the United States that “the world began to tremble”.

More than 10,000 died from Ebola in less than one year and almost 25,00 people were infected in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. The annual cost of building a universal health service in these three countries would be almost three times less the amount spent on the crisis. “Why did we have to wait until Ebola became a crisis? It could have been stopped. The pharmaceutical companies actually had started developing a vaccine . . . and they stopped because it wouldn’t make a profit,” Dr Nwanze said. “Why do we have to wait until inequality becomes a disease?”

Astronomical cost

He told the seminar, which was co-hosted by Irish Aid, that the crisis meant farmers were unable to tend their crops. Guinea had exported 250 tonnes of potatoes to Senegal in 2013. “In 2014 they only exported 22 tonnes because of Ebola.”

He said Heathrow Airport had spent millions of pounds screening passengers over a six month period while the cost of repatriating healthcare workers was “astronomical”.

Dr Nwanze said emergency responses to deal with crises in migration and nutrition also showed how inaction was costing much more than action. Some 160 million children under the age of five had stunted growth and would never reach their potential. He said this cost $125 billion a year in lost GDP. “But by investing $10 billion a year, we are able to save $125 billion.”

Dr Nwanze said three-quarters of the world’s poorest citizens lived in rural areas and if we were serious about fighting hunger and poverty, we must take the fight to rural areas. But he said development must address the needs of the communities. There was no point in providing improved seed to farmers if they had nowhere to store the increased yield, and no roads to take it to the nearest market.

Cities had a finite capacity but the potential of rural areas had yet to be tapped. "Current agricultural systems in Africa are only performing at 40 per cent of their potential," he said. "Increase the productivity of existing systems from 40 to 60 to 80 [per cent] and Africa will feed itself and feed the world. "But it takes political leadership to bring about the change, and good governance."