A Wake-Up Call: Lessons from Ebola for the world’s health systems

The circumstances and reasons for the Ebola virus spreading in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia are complex – including the lack of early warning and surveillance, delays in recognising the importance of providing safe and dignified burials, and lack of fast action. This report focuses on one specific factor that contributed to Ebola getting out of control: inadequate health services.

In this report, Save the Children documents the existing weaknesses of the health services in the three main countries affected by Ebola. There is broad agreement that the Ebola crisis was not quickly contained, reversed or mitigated because national health systems in these countries were dangerously under-resourced, under-staffed and poorly equipped.

The Ebola crisis must be a wake-up call to all to take serious action to transform the health services of developing countries. Read about what must be changed and the recommendations prepared by Save the Children for governments, NGOs, and other invested parties.