UK supports Ebola treatment with £205m
The United Kingdom has donated £205m to fight Ebola in West Africa. This will facilitate the procurement of 700 Ebola treatment beds, expand training and laboratory capacity and support community-level initiatives to reduce the rates of infection.
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Out of the amount, £20 million will be spent on activities targeted at improving public health services in Sierra Leone and £10 million to ensure safe burials there.
The Public Relations Directorate of the British High Commission told the Daily Graphic in Accra that by mid-November, the UK would, have deployed 750 troops to help establish Ebola Treatment Centres and an Ebola Training Academy.
The Royal Navy’s Ship Argus with three Merlin helicopters, aircrew and engineers arrived in Freetown this week.
In partnership with Save the Children, the UK will open an Ebola Treatment Facility in Sierra Leone next week and there are plans for five more Ebola Treatment Facilities, with 100 beds each, which should start coming in at the end of November.
Over 650 volunteers from the British National Health Service (NHS) and 130 from Public Health England have now signed up.
The UK has helped provide sufficient burial teams for the Western Area of Sierra Leone (which includes Freetown) and 90 per cent of burials are now taking place within 24 hours, which is a critical element in reducing transmission rates.
Meanwhile, Development Secretary Justine Greening last week visited Sierra Leone to see the work for herself and to meet President Koroma.
