U.S to spend $1b over Ebola, checks disease in W’Africa with $461m

THE United States(U.S) Government Tuesday reacted to criticisms regarding its alleged ‘half-hearted’ response to the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa, saying it has mounted a ‘whole-of-government response that would cost at least $1billion, in addition to the $461million it reportedly spent in fighting to contain and eliminate the epidemic at its source.

The US government has been variously criticised in Africa for not doing enough to help the continent contain the malaise and that it shows serious commitment only when the disease threatens its own citizens.

But a ‘Fact Sheet’ released by the White House through the Africa Press Organisation (APO), yesterday, maintained that President Barrack Obama’s administration had, last month outlined a stepped-up U.S. response, “leveraging more thoroughly the unique capabilities of the U.S. military to support the civilian-led response in West Africa.

“Domestically, we have prepared for the diagnosis of an Ebola case on U.S. soil and have measures in place to stop this and any potential future cases in their tracks,” said he White House.

According to the statement, the US strategy is predicated on four key goals, namely controlling the epidemic at its source in West Africa; mitigating second-order impacts, including blunting the economic, social, and political tolls in the region; engaging and coordinating with a broader global audience; and, fortifying global health security infrastructure in the region and beyond, including within the U.S .

Insisting that it has done well in its international response to Ebola, the White House said

It has supported national government efforts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, alongside the international community, even as its response continues to build upon measures it put in place since the first cases of Ebola were reported.

“The U.S already has committed more than $350 million toward fighting the outbreak in West Africa, including more than $111 million in humanitarian aid, and the Department of Defense (DoD) is prepared to devote more than $1 billion to the whole-of-government Ebola response effort,” according to the White House statement.

“As a further indication of our prioritisation of this response, the U.S convened a special UN Security Council session on the epidemic, and President Obama called the world to action during a subsequent UN session called by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. These U.S. actions have galvanised millions of dollars in international funding and in-kind support.”

The US government listed the specific response efforts to include, among other measures, the deployment to West Africa of more than 130 civilian medical, healthcare, and disaster response experts from multiple government departments and agencies as part of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Disaster Assistance Response Team, and about 350 U.S. military personnel, constituting the largest U.S. response to an international public health challenge.

Other measures, according top the White House, are:

• Increase in the number of Ebola treatment units (ETU) in the region, “including supporting ETUs in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and one of our new ETUs in Liberia discharged its first four Ebola survivors last week;

• Increase to 50, the number of safe burial teams, which are now working across every county in Liberia to safely and respectfully dispose of bodies;

• Deployment and commencement of operation of five mobile Ebola testing labs in the region, two of which opened this week in Liberia and have doubled lab capacity in the country—reducing from several days to just a few hours the time needed to determine if a patient has Ebola;

• Provision of more than 10,000 Ebola test kits to the Liberian Institute of Biological Research and Sierra Leone’s Kenema Government Hospital;

•Receipt and passing to interested humanitarian organisations information from nearly 2,200 volunteers willing to provide healthcare in the affected countries;

• Delivery of approximately 2,200 rolls of USAID heavy-duty plastic sheeting for use in constructing Ebola treatment units across the region;

• Procurment of 140,000 sets of personal protective equipment, 10,000 of which have already been delivered, along with hundreds of thousands of medical gloves and thousands of protective coveralls, goggles, face shields, and other personal protective supplies;

• Delivery of an initial 9,000 of 50,000 community care kits to Liberia;

• Support for aggressive public education campaigns reaching every Liberian county with life-saving information on how to identify, treat and prevent Ebola;

• Administering of nutritional support to patients receiving care at Ebola treatment units and in Ebola-affected communities across the region; and

• Provision of technical support to the Government of Liberia’s national-level emergency operation centre.

“Following the completion of AFRICOM’s assessment, DoD announced the planned deployment of 3,200 troops, including 700 from the 101st Airborne Division headquarters element to Liberia. These forces will deploy in late October and become the headquarters staff for the Joint Forces Command, led by Major General Gary Volesky. The total U.S. troop commitment will depend on the requirements on the ground;

Overseeing the construction of and facilitating staffing for at least 17,100-bed Ebola treatment units across Liberia; Deploying additional U.S. military personnel from various engineering units to help supervise the construction of ETUs and provide engineering expertise for the international response in Liberia; Establishing a training site in Liberia to train up to 500 healthcare providers per week, enabling them to provide safe and direct supportive medical care to Ebola patients, among others.