Britain is to deploy troops in Sierra Leone to set up a medical treatment centre to deal with Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, according to the International Development Secretary, Justine Greening.
The 62-bed facility will be built and operated by military engineers and medical staff with the initial phase ready for use by late October with work starting this week.
The British intervention "follows a direct request from the World Health Organisation and the Government of Sierra Leone for assistance in containing the outbreak" according to a press release from DfID, with "the UK Government is working with Save the Children to design a long term plan to manage and operate the facility after it has been fully set up".
Based at Kerry Town on the Freetown peninsula, the 50-bed facility will treat general members of the public while a 12-bed ward will be health workers and medical volunteers, according to a source at the British high commission in Freetown.
The UK Government is working with Save the Children to design a long term plan to manage and operate the facility after it has been fully set up.
"Britain is at the forefront of the global effort to tackle this deadly outbreak, having already committed £25 million of support, including frontline treatment and funding for medical research to develop a vaccine" minister Greening said.
"The scale of the problem requires the entire international community to do more to assist the affected countries...When it is up and running it will enable the UK to provide medical care for local and international health workers, as well as treatment for the wider population."
British Minister for Armed Forces, Mark Francois said “The people of West Africa need our help and we will not stand idly by...This operation will involve a unique set of challenges but I believe that we have the ability to provide support to the World Health Organisation, in helping to bring the outbreak under control.”
Save the Children Chief Executive, Justin Forsyth said: “Ebola threatens thousands of people’s lives across West Africa and could set back development many decades". He said the key to combating Ebola was backing front line health workers and strengthening Sierra Leone's health care delivery system. He warned that without urgent action to assist medics, many more children and their families will suffer and die from Ebola.
(C) Politico 09/09/14
