UK should resume flights to Ebola-hit nations: parliamentary watchdog

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Britain's decision to stop direct flights to Ebola-hit countries had "no scientific justification", probably increased the cost of dealing with the outbreak and should be reversed, a parliamentary watchdog said on Wednesday. Several airlines including British Airways and Emirates stopped flights last year to countries in West Africa affected by the worst outbreak of Ebola since the deadly virus was identified in 1976. In September, independent health advisers to the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded that there should be no general ban on travel or trade with Ebola-affected areas. WHO, along with other agencies, said the ban had hampered efforts to deal with the disease and made it hard for experts to reach victims. "The revocation of licenses to carriers to fly direct to the region was a political decision with no basis in science and was inconsistent with World Health Organization advice," the Public Accounts Committee, which scrutinizes government spending, said in a report drawing on evidence from experts. "These (direct flights) should be restored as soon as possible." Nearly 9,000 people, mainly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, have died of Ebola out of more than 22,400 known cases, according to the WHO. Department of Transport officials were not immediately available for comment. BA, which suspended flights to and from Liberia and Sierra Leone last August, said it would keep the ban in place because of concern about the public health situation in both countries. "We will keep the routes under review in the coming months," it said in a statement. The committee also criticized the Department for International Development (DFID) for failing to respond to the crisis with enough urgency. It said DFID should focus on strengthening healthcare systems in the region so they could cope better with future public health emergencies. International Development Secretary Justine Greening said Britain's response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone had "saved lives, not cost lives". To date, DFID has announced a contribution of more than 5 million pounds ($7.65 million) to fight the outbreak. "The UK 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," Greening said in a statement. "Everyone agrees that the World Health Organization should have reacted faster and the global system must reform to improve collective detection and reaction." ($1 = 0.6540 pounds) (Reporting by Katie Nguyen; Editing by Astrid Zweynert)