Almost 30 Countries Suffer from Weaker Health Systems Than Ebola-Hit West Africa, Putting Millions at Risk - Save the Children

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Mar 02, 2015, 07:01 ET

FAIRFIELD, Conn., March 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Health systems throughout the developing world need to be strengthened to prevent another Ebola-style outbreak, or worse, warns Save the Children in its new report "A Wake Up Call: Lessons from Ebola for the World's Health Systems."

The report ranks the world's poorest countries on the state of their public health systems, finding that 28 have weaker defenses in place than Sierra Leone, where, alongside Liberia and Guinea, the current Ebola crisis has already claimed more than 9,500 lives.

Nina* was hospitalized and isolated in Liberia after showing symptoms of Ebola. She tested negative and was reunited with her parents. Even though the virus has yet to infect anyone in her family, Ebola has had a big impact on her family's life. Nina*'s school was closed, her father has become unemployed and Nina* carries the stigma of being suspected of having the Ebola infection. Photo by Chris de Bode / Save the Children. (* after a name indicates that the name has been changed to protect identity...

The report also advises that prevention is better than cure, finding that the international Ebola relief effort in West Africa has cost $4.3 billion, whereas strengthening the health systems of those countries in the first place would have cost just $1.58 billion.

Ahead of an Ebola summit attended by world leaders in Brussels today, the charity warns that alongside immediate much needed support to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, lessons need to be learnt and applied to other vulnerable countries around the world.

President and CEO of Save the Children USA, Carolyn Miles, said: "A robust health system could have helped get Ebola under control much sooner, saving thousands of children's lives and billions of dollars.

"Without trained health workers and a functioning health system in place, it's more likely that an epidemic could spread across international borders with catastrophic effects.

"The world woke up to Ebola, but now people need to wake up to the scandal of weak health systems, which not only risk new diseases spreading, but also contribute to the deaths of 17,000 children each day from preventable causes like pneumonia and malaria."

The reports' index looks at the numbers of health workers, government spending on health, and mortality rates. Somalia ranks lowest, and is preceded by Chad, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Haiti, Ethiopia, Central Africa Republic (CAR), Guinea, Niger, and then Mali.

Save the Children gives children in the United States and around the world a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We invest in childhood — every day, in times of crisis and for our future. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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PDF - http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/ENR/Save-the-Children-Wake-Up-Call-Report-030215-1.pdf

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