President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that South Africa will increase its financial contribution to the Ebola response effort to US$13.5 million, reaffirming the country's commitment to supporting African nations affected by the outbreak.
President Ramaphosa, in his capacity as the African Union Champion for Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention and Response, made the announcement on Tuesday during a High-Level Virtual Meeting of Heads of State, Government and Partners on the Ebola outbreak.
The meeting was convened by the President of the Republic of Burundi and Chairperson of the African Union, Evariste Ndayishimiye.
It aims to mobilise African and international solidarity to contain the Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, while strengthening preparedness in countries at risk of regional transmission.
The President called on leaders to maintain or increase their pledges and urged those who made commitments at the previous meeting to convert them in full into cash, medical countermeasures or technical assistance.
“With no vaccine or antiviral, every day that transmission continues unchecked, the human cost rises. The West Africa Ebola epidemic demonstrated that delayed action can transform a localised outbreak into a regional and global crisis. This is why our response must focus on breaking the transmission and stopping Ebola at its source,” he said.
However, President Ramaphosa cautioned that public health measures are being undermined by the volatile environment in which the response is being carried out.
“As political leaders, we can help by creating safe corridors for the passage of goods and services. We must seek a ceasefire to allow the Ebola response to proceed unhindered.
“We must continue to strengthen cross-border collaboration. We must expand rapid diagnostic testing, contact tracing and community awareness.
“We should be concerned that we have no biotechnology in our arsenal against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola,” the President said.
While welcoming and fully supporting the efforts of GAVI, CEPI and others, President Ramaphosa stressed that Africa cannot depend indefinitely on external markets and production systems during health emergencies.
“The response to Ebola therefore cannot end when this outbreak ends. This moment must become a turning point.
“As African leaders, we must accelerate investment in local manufacturing, strengthen the African Medicines Agency and operationalise the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism,” Ramaphosa said.
He added that African manufacturers need predictable markets, while African countries must have reliable access to lifesaving products during emergencies.
“We must all take heed of Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) stance against imposing blanket and unsubstantiated travel bans.
“I call upon African financial institutions, development banks, philanthropies and the African private sector to join governments in this effort.
“I call upon our international partners to continue to stand with Africa in a spirit of solidarity and mutual responsibility,” the President concluded. -SAnews.gov.za
