China sends fresh aid for Ebola-hit nations, WHO, AU
September 19, 2014, 5:33 am

Members of a Chinese laboratory team wave before departing for Sierra Leone to help West African countries to contain the Ebola epidemic, in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 16, 2014 [Xinhua]

This is in addition to the 230 million yuan sent by China earlier to the four worst affected countries of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The virus has so far infected at least 5,300 people in West Africa since early this year.

The aid will include capital support, food and other relief material, said Xi who is on a state visit to India.

Xi said China will also provide the World Health Organization and the African Union with cash funds of $2 million each.

The spreading of Ebola in West Africa has been a severe challenge for the international community, including China and India, Xi said in New Delhi on Thursday.

The new aid is aimed at helping Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and other countries fight Ebola and supporting regional organizations concerned to play a leading and coordinating role in fighting the epidemic, he noted.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Wednesday that a 59-member Chinese laboratory team was dispatched to help Sierra Leone improve lab testing as part of the fight against Ebola.

Previously, China had sent medical supplies and 115 medical experts to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau.

The Liberian Defense Minister Brownie Samukai told the UN Security Council last week that his country is facing an existential threat as Ebola appears to be spreading out of control in the country.

BRICS countries have said there were no reported cases of Ebola in the five nations so far, although authorities are on high alert.

With large population of BRICS workers in the four affected West African nations, the risk to countries like China and India from the virus remains high. The bloc’s engagement with African nations, including the four that have been badly hit, is substantial.

The Ebola virus, also referred to as Ebola hemorrhagic fever because of one of its most visible symptoms, is an incurable disease with a very high fatality rate. It was first identified in 1976.

TBP