Int'l community enhances anti-Ebola aid to Africa
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Crew members and Ghanaian workers unload anti-Ebola materials, including Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs), sprayers, body temperature detectors and body bags, aided by the Chinese government at Kotoka International Airport of Accra, the capital of Ghana, in the midnight of Oct. 29, 2014. [Xinhua/Lin Xiaowei] |
Countries and international organizations have reinforced efforts against the deadly Ebola virus, which has so far killed nearly 5,000 people, most of whom in West Africa.
The Chinese military has joined efforts to help African countries fight Ebola, Yang Yujun, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said Thursday.
"As arranged by the government, the Chinese military is playing an active role in aiding West African countries in the fight against Ebola," he told a monthly press briefing.
Yang said a 30-strong medical team from a military hospital arrived in Sierra Leone in mid-September and they are still working there.
He mentioned China's decision to build a 100-bed treatment center in Liberia, where the epidemic is most serious. The military is helping in that mission and construction of the center is in progress.
In addition to the ongoing mission of collecting and transporting relief materials, the military will also send experienced medical experts, doctors and nurses to treat patients and train local health workers, said the spokesman.
"The Chinese military will continue to provide support and assistance as much as it can for West African countries to fight Ebola," Yang added.
Last week, China pledged a new batch of aid worth 82 million U.S. dollars to help West Africa fight the Ebola outbreak, bringing total Chinese aid to the region for the deadly disease to 122 million dollars.
Yang's remarks came one day after Chinese medical supplies and equipment arrived in the Ghanaian capital of Accra.
The materials include protective clothing, protective goggles, sprayers, gauze masks, body thermometers and temperature monitors.
Other countries to benefit from the relief are Mali, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria.
The materials are expected to reach the capitals of the countries before the end of this month.
Meanwhile, other countries and international organization have also actively taken measures to contain the disease, which has left a total of 4,922 people dead and more than 13,000 confirmed infection cases, mostly in the three hardest-hit countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
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