The World Bank Group yesterday announced an additional $100 million funding to help speed up deployment of foreign health workers to the three Ebola worst-affected countries in West Africa.

The announcement increases the World Bank Group’s funding for the Ebola fight over the last three months in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to more than $500 million.

Foreign health workers in the affected nations are from various countries. In the framework of the East African Community, Rwanda sent a team of 14 medical personnel, including seven doctors.

Rwanda’s medical personnel are distributed in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to officials from the Ministry of Health.

In recent weeks, West African and global development leaders appealed for massive reinforcement of international health teams to the three countries in order to contain the epidemic.

The health workers are needed to treat and care for patients, boost local health capacity, manage Ebola treatment centres, and resume essential health services for non-Ebola conditions.

Required personnel

The United Nations indicates that about 5,000 international medical, training and support personnel are needed in the three countries over the coming months to respond to the Ebola outbreak, including 1,000 foreign health workers to treat patients.

"The world’s response to the Ebola crisis has increased significantly in recent weeks, but we still have a huge gap in getting enough trained health workers to the areas with the highest infection rates,” said World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim.

"We must urgently find ways to break any barriers to the deployment of more health workers. It is our hope that this $100 million can help be a catalyst for a rapid surge of health workers to the communities in dire need.”

The World Bank Group’s additional financing will help set up a coordination hub in close cooperation with the three countries and fund recruitment, training and deployment of qualified foreign health workers.

"It will resolve key issues blocking the recruitment of significantly more foreign health workers, such as pay and benefits, recruitment and training, safety, transportation, housing, provision of urgent medical care, and/or medical evacuations for any infected staff,” a statement from UN reads.

The World Bank chief warned that even as the world focuses intensely on Ebola emergency response, there is need to invest in public health infrastructure, institutions and systems to prepare for future epidemics, which could spread more quickly.

WHO recorded total Ebola deaths at around 4,922, with a massive decline in the death and infection rates over the last couple of weeks.

Nigeria, which was one the affected countries, was last month declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organisation.

ivan.mugisha@newtimes.co.rw