The United States diseases control tsar will visit Sierra Leone in the first week of August as part of an Ebola assessment tour of the West Africa region, the US embassy in Freetown announced Friday.
Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will spend three days (August 2-4) in Sierra Leone as part of a tour that will also take him to Liberia and Guinea, the embassy said in a statement. The trip will afford him the opportunity to observe firsthand the impact of the Ebola outbreak and to assess next steps in getting to a resilient zero, the statement says.
During his stay Dr Freiden is scheduled to meet with government officials, international partners, and healthcare workers to consult on the outbreak response and discuss CDC plans to help build public health and emergency management capacity. He will be accompanied by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Shannon Smith.
A press conference has also been scheduled for Monday, August 3, at the U.S. Embassy (Southridge, Hill Station) at 2pm.
(C) Politico 30/07/15
