Slow Response to Ebola Outbreak Led to Deaths, UK Parliamentary Report Claims

A parliamentary report released by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) criticized the British government for not rapidly acting against the growing Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Bloomberg reported.

Members of the committee even said the Department for International Development's (DFID) slow response to the epidemic may have contributed to the rising death toll in the region.

"The department was far too slow to react to the developing situation, missing an opportunity to contain quickly the outbreak of Ebola in at least Sierra Leone," Margaret Hodge, the chairperson of the committee said in a statement.

"Had the department acted sooner, both lives and money would have been saved," she continued.

The PAC's report also detailed how the department failed to properly determine the budget allocated for its efforts in combating the outbreak.

In August of last year, the DFID had allocated £5 million to aid the regions hit by the deadly disease. In September, however, the funding increased to £100 million. Then, it was reported that the BFID's budget for its Ebola response had already reached £230 million, BBC has learned.

The committee also blamed the government for imposing restrictions that slowed down the delivery of proper treatment methods and services to affected areas. Some of these restrictions include the government's decision to ban all direct flights from Britain to regions affected by the outbreak.

According to the PAC, restrictions such as this are not supported by any scientific justification.

In response, the DFID emphasized that the department's actions were monumental in containing the outbreak.

"Britain's decision to shoulder responsibility for tackling the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone has saved lives, not cost lives," DFID Secretary Justine Greening said in a statement according to the BBC.

"The U.K. cannot disease-proof every developing country in the world from potential unprecedented outbreaks but we can offer our full support when they strike, as we did in Sierra Leone before any other country and at considerable risk to British lives," she added.