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Luxembourg’s Government response to the Ebola crisis
National response
The Government has been supervising a coordinated and active response from the ministerial departments, administrations and services directly concerned with the planning of a national response to the crisis. The High Commission for National Protection is working closely with the Health Ministry and the Home Office to coordinate ministerial action.
The screening procedure “suspicion of infectious disease” has been implemented at the Lux-Airport since October 10th.
International response
Since the very beginning of the outbreak, the Government of Luxembourg has been working hand-in-hand with the European Union and the rest of the international community in order to develop a rapid and effective response to this global health emergency.
On 23 October 2014, Luxembourg declared the implementation of the “MEDEVAC module” in the “voluntary pool”, a new tool under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Click here for further information.
Luxembourg therefore became the first Member State of the European Union to commit itself to European medical evacuation for international humanitarian staff afflicted by the infectious disease. Under the scheme developed, the “MEDEVACS” will be supported by 2 Learjets XR45 of “Luxembourg Air Rescue” ( LAR ) and will be available for a two year period.
Medical evacuation for category 1 patients (also known as “dry cases”) will be available at the latest from mid-December 2015. The evacuation of category 2 and 3 patients (“wet cases”) is foreseen for beginning of January 2015. Under this scheme, any national urgency (that is to say the medical/sanitary evacuation of a Luxembourg national, resident, inhabitant of the border zone, or NGO collaborator) will be given priority processing.
The EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Mr Stylianides, has welcomed Luxembourg’s response in the fight against Ebola: “At a moment when the availability of medical evacuations is such a crucial factor for encouraging more medical workers to join the Ebola response, I particularly welcome Luxembourg's leadership on this priority with the contribution of specially equipped planes" (For the full text of the EC press release, please click here… ).
In response to a UN appeal, the Ministry of Defence has provided since 3 November strategic transport capacities in order to deliver humanitarian goods to West Africa.
Luxembourg has also contributed to the funding of the international effort against Ebola by donating €1 million to different programs of NGOs, the UN and the WHO.
The Government also wishes to implement a telemedicine program, called SATMED, in Sierra Leone.