The foundation will immediately release flexible funds
to United Nations agencies and international organizations involved in
the response to enable them and national governments to purchase badly
needed supplies and scale up emergency operations in affected
countries. In addition, the foundation will work with public and
private sector partners to accelerate the development of therapies,
vaccines, and diagnostics that could be effective in treating patients and preventing further transmission of the disease.
"We are working urgently with our partners to identify
the most effective ways to help them save lives now and stop
transmission of this deadly disease," said Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of
the Gates Foundation. "We also want to accelerate the development of
treatments, vaccines and diagnostics that can help end this epidemic and
prevent future outbreaks."
To date, the Gates Foundation has committed more than
$10 million to fight the Ebola outbreak, including $5 million to WHO for
emergency operations and R&D assessments and $5 million to the
U.S. Fund for UNICEF to support efforts in Liberia, Sierra Leone and
Guinea to purchase essential medical supplies, coordinate response
activities, and provide at-risk communities with life-saving health
information. An additional $2 million will also be committed
immediately to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to
support incident management, treatment, and health care system
strengthening.
In August, Nigeria responded to the current crisis by
opening an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Lagos, with support from
the foundation and the Dangote Foundation. Leveraging expertise and
lessons from the national polio program, the EOC has been at the center
of an aggressive push by the federal and state governments to contain
the spread of the virus, and there is cautious optimism that this prompt
action may have helped avert a broader outbreak.
As additional grants are made, the foundation will
provide further details on its funding commitments to on-the-ground
operations and to research and development for Ebola drugs, vaccines,
and diagnostics.
About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value,
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead
healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on
improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves
out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to
ensure that all people-especially those with the fewest resources-have
access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life.
Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Sue
Desmond-Hellmann and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction
of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
CONTACT: +1-206-709-3400,
Media@GatesFoundation.org;
Note to editors: For more detailed information on the foundation's
announcement, please join us for a 30-minute Twitter Q&A at 9:30 am
PT with Sue Desmond-Hellmann, the foundation's CEO, and Chris Elias,
president of global development, using the hashtag #ebolachat.
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Follow us on Facebook:
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Listen to us on streaming internet radio at: Tunein and from our website at: PEFM
International Correspondent Scott Congdon can be reached at:
Mail: scottcpefm@gmail.com
Phone: 010 500 8203 (in South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)
011 27 10 500 8203 (calling from outside of South Africa) (Available 3-5pm SAST weekdays)
*Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of PEFM 87.6or our presenters or correspondents. Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.
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