Scotland “can be proud of Ebola fight”

UK ministers have hailed Scotland’s ‘profound contribution’ in the efforts to respond to the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone.

Speaking at an event at the Department for International Development (DfID) headquarters in East Kilbride today Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael and International Development Minister Baroness Northover praised the work of Scottish health workers, military personnel and charities in fighting the disease.

Carmichael said: “As a country, we have risen to meet the massive medical challenge of Ebola in West Africa and will continue to do so. Much of this essential work has been co-ordinated through the DFID offices right here in Scotland.”

Nurse Alasdair Kerr, one of 130 Scottish healthcare workers to volunteer in West Africa, said: “I’ve never been prouder as an NHS worker than when I saw how many of my colleagues had volunteered for the Ebola response. Together, we are making a difference.”

New cases of Ebola have dropped in Sierra Leone since November, but challenges remain. The response is now focusing on the surveillance and contact tracing of remaining cases, as well as social mobilisation work encouraging the people of Sierra Leone to go to a health centre if symptomatic and to bury the dead in a safe and dignified way.

Northover said: “With our help there are now sufficient treatment and isolation beds, sufficient labs to test for the virus quickly and effectively, and sufficient trained burial teams to make sure bodies are buried quickly, safely and with the dignity they deserve.

“We have gone from seeing over 500 cases a week at the end of November to under 60 in early March. This huge reduction shows that our strategy is working, but we cannot afford to be complacent. We must get to zero cases as fast as possible.”

The UK has spent £427m fighting the outbreak. Nurse Pauline Cafferky from South Lanarkshire made a full recovery from the disease after contracting it while volunteering in Sierra Leone.