Thousands died needlessly from ebola because the World Health Organisation’s response to the crisis was ‘late, feeble and uncoordinated’, say scientists in damning report 

• International expert panel led by British scientists says WHO delay played a major part in the epidemic spiralling out of control
• The report, published in the Lancet medical journal, blames the WHO for not acting quickly enough
• Finds WHO was aware of the outbreak in December 2013 but did not declare it an international emergency until August 2014
• Findings concur with independent investigation commissioned by the WHO published in July

By Ben Spencer Medical Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published: 21:05 EST, 22 November 2015 | Updated: 21:11 EST, 22 November 2015

Thousands of people needlessly died because the global response to the ebola crisis was ‘late, feeble and uncoordinated’, a damning report concludes today.

An international expert panel, led by British scientists, said delay by the World Health Organisation played a major part in the catastrophe spiralling out of control.

More than 11,000 people have died in West Africa since the ebola outbreak took hold in December 2013.

An international panel, led by the British scientist who first identified the ebola virus 40 years ago, said the WHO waited months before declaring a major emergency. 

Epidemic: More than 11,000 people died in West Africa after the ebola outbreak took hold in December 2013 in a remote region in Guinea

Professor Peter Piot, director of the London School Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the scientist who discovered the Ebola virus in 1976, said major political changes are needed to avoid a repeat of the ‘depths of suffering, death and social and economic havoc’ seen in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

His team’s report, published in the Lancet medical journal last night, said the biggest cause of the scale of the epidemic was the WHO’s failure to act quickly when the outbreak started escalating in early 2014.

The global response to the crisis was ‘late, feeble and uncoordinated’, according to panel member Dr Mosoka Fallah, from Liberia.

Professor Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute in the US, said: ‘The most egregious failure was by WHO in the delay in sounding the alarm.

The global response to the crisis was ‘late, feeble and uncoordinated’, according to panel member Dr Mosoka Fallah, from Liberia. Despite the outbreak beginning in 2013, the WHO didn't declare and international emergency until August 2014

Even when the epidemic entered its second phase, in March, the WHO failed to mobilise global assistance ‘despite ample evidence the outbreak had overwhelmed national and non-governmental capacities’, according to the report which was published in medical journal The Lancet

‘People at WHO were aware that there was an Ebola outbreak that was getting out of control by spring … and yet, it took until August to declare a public health emergency.

‘The cost of the delay was enormous.’

An international expert panel, led by British scientist called for ten major reforms aimed at preventing and responding to future major disease outbreaks - including overhauling the structure of the WHO

The ebola epidemic began in December 2013 with the first infections in a remote region of Guinea where no previous outbreaks had been reported.

The report said that even when the epidemic entered its second phase, in March, the WHO failed to mobilise global assistance ‘despite ample evidence the outbreak had overwhelmed national and non-governmental capacities’.

Yet it was not until August 8 that the director-general of the WHO, Dr Margaret Chan, officially designated the ebola outbreak an international public emergency.

This highlighted ‘failures in both technical judgment and political leadership’, the panel found.

Three British volunteers contracted the virus while working in Sierra Leone, including nurse Pauline Cafferkey, 39, who was recently discharged from hospital for the second time after the ebola virus relapsed.

Survived: Three British volunteers contracted the virus while working in Sierra Leone. Above, aid worker William Pooley, 30, from Suffolk, nurse Pauline Cafferkey (centre), 39, from Glasgow, and army reserve nurse Anna Cross (right), 26, from Cambridge

Aid worker William Pooley, 30, from Suffolk, and army reserve nurse Anna Cross, 26, from Cambridge, also contracted ebola, and have since recovered.

The authors called for ten major reforms aimed at preventing and responding to future major disease outbreaks - including overhauling the structure of the WHO.

Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said last night: ‘Today’s report includes some sobering lessons, and sets out critical recommendations for increasing our resilience to future epidemics.

‘It’s vital that the lessons learned are translated into concrete action if we are to avert another crisis on the scale of Ebola.’

The report echoes the findings of an independent investigation commissioned by the WHO.

That inquiry, the results of which were published in July, found that the organisation did not possess the ‘capacity’ or ‘organisational culture’ to cope with a repeat of the crisis.

Dr Chan, who has led the WHO since January 2007, admitted earlier this year that her organisation been ‘overwhelmed’ by the ebola epidemic and ‘ought to have reacted far earlier’. 

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