Stabilisation Unit
On Wednesday 16 November 2016, one year on from Sierra Leone being declared Ebola free, the Stabilisation Unit (SU) held an event to recognise the efforts of those individuals that the SU deployed in support of the cross-government response to the Ebola outbreak.
The event drew on the experience of those who had deployed to explore the lessons learned from HMGs response to the outbreak of Ebola and the implications for future peace and stability in Sierra Leone.
DFID Minister of State, Rory Stewart, thanked those who deployed and presented some of the deployees with the Ebola Medal for Services in West Africa.
The Minister of State said: I have so much admiration for people who deployed to fight the Ebola epidemic. It took immense courage and compassion to go into the centre of this crisis. These rare medals should be worn with justifiable pride and will long be honoured by our country.
The Stabilisation Unit Response
The UKs response to the Ebola outbreak was a truly cross-government effort, taking over 3,000 staff from the military, civil service and DFID-funded and partner organisations. The construction of six treatment centres, supported by over 150 NHS volunteers, provided over 2,500 isolation/treatment beds. An independent report by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine calculated that the response helped prevent 57,000 new cases of the disease.
As part of that response, the Stabilisation Unit deployed 29 individuals into the cross-government response. Its members of the International Security Assistance Force also supported the effort to respond to the Ebola outbreak. Many of the deployees performed multiple deployments, often at short notice, and played a key role in supporting the Government of Sierra Leone and co-ordinating efforts at the District level.
For more information please see the policy paper UK lessons from Ebola outbreak and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Report.