China sends off 4th Ebola aid shipment with 232 medical workers
January 14, 2015, 5:35 am

There are plans to send more supplies, which should arrive in the affected nations in mid-March [Image: CDC]

“This shipment includes hospital beds, ambulances, protection equipment, and incinerators,” Wang Shengwen, head of Foreign Assistance, Ministry of Commerce, said.

The aid consignment left Shanghai on Tuesday bound for Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone alongwith an additional 232 army medical workers.

They join 43 army doctors and 35 specialists from the Chinese Center for Disease Control already working in Sierra Leone, who have treated 61 patients and trained 1,600 local medical workers.

There are plans to send more supplies, which should arrive in the affected nations in mid-March.

The shipments are in addition to food aid that continues to be sent to West Africa. A number of Chinese medical teams are also working in the affected countries.

China has also helped to build several training, treatment and testing centers.

China, which has not reported any Ebola cases, has considerable experience working with infectious diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and avian flu.

The country is also seeking to boost its humanitarian and diplomatic engagement with Africa on a level commensurate with its economic involvement on the continent.

China has also sent thousands of doses of an experimental anti-Ebola drug developed by the Chinese military to Africa, says a Financial Times report in October.

More than 8304 people have died up till last week in the latest outbreak, with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia the worst hit, says UN figures.

The outbreak can be ended by mid-2015 if the world speeds up its response, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said.

Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have borne the brunt of 20,000 infections.

TBP and Agencies