Further UK aid supplies arrive in Freetown to tackle Ebola outbreak
Britain's latest Ebola aid flight - delivering beds, personal protection suits, tents and ten vehicles - landed in Freetown today.
UK aid to tackle Ebola is unloaded in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Picture: James Fulker/DFID
Britain’s latest Ebola aid flight - delivering beds, personal protection suits, tents and ten vehicles - landed in Freetown today, International Development Secretary Justine Greening has confirmed.
Images of the latest flight are available to download here.
Aid flights from the UK to Sierra Leone have delivered personnel and vital supplies for the construction and operation of the 92 bed treatment facility in Kerry Town - the first of at least five that the UK is building in the country from scratch.
A team of British military personnel - including logisticians, planners and engineers - are currently on the ground to oversee the construction of the treatment centre.
International Development Secretary Justine Greening said:
The UK continues to deliver essential supplies to control and defeat the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.
This aid will go towards getting the UK’s treatment facility up and running as soon as possible. It will also ensure that heroic health workers working on the front line have the very best protection equipment available to tackle this terrible disease.
Construction of our treatment centre is now well underway and the first phase will be operational soon. This will provide a lifeline of care to Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.
Aid supplies delivered so far include: 20 vehicles including ambulances; 75 water tanks; 3 incinerators for disposing of clothing and other materials; 12 generators; personal protection equipment; radio equipment; lighting sets; chlorine for sanitation; latrine slabs; temporary warehouse tents; 14 air conditioning units and isolator equipment.
The vehicles will be used to move blood samples and patients from local communities to the treatment centre. Further aid supplies will be deployed from the Department for International Development’s emergency warehouse in Kemble, Gloucestershire.
Notes to Editors
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The UK has pledged £125 million to support the global effort to contain, control and defeat the disease in Sierra Leone.
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This includes support for 700 Ebola treatment beds. These will provide direct medical care up to 8,800 patients over six months. It will also shore up the country’s stretched public health services to help contain the disease. This includes vital supplies such as chlorine and protective clothing for thousands of health workers.
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With UK support, WHO are now training over 120 health workers every week.
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750 Ministry of Defence personnel will be deployed to help with the establishment of Ebola Treatment Centres and an Ebola Training Academy. This will include: * The deployment of RFA Argus to take and support three Merlin helicopters, aircrew and engineers in the region to provide crucial transport support to medical teams and aid experts. This will involve around 250 personnel * Over 200 military staff to run and staff World Health Organisation-led Ebola training facility that will assist in the training of healthcare workers, logisticians and hygiene specialists who are needed to staff treatment units * 300 military personnel making up the existing UK taskforce plans focussed on delivering support to the Sierra Leone Government
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On 2 October the UK hosted - alongside the Government of Sierra Leone - an international conference to rally the global community to provide an effective international response. The conference brought together more than 20 governments, a dozen charities and NGOs, the UN, World Bank, health experts and the private sector to pledge funds, equipment and health workers.
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