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Nigerian and British Ebola volunteers fly into Liberia, Sierra Leone

Additonal  Nigerian and British health workers arrive in Liberia and Sierra Leone to help counter Ebola

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REUTERS  by James Harding Giahyue and Umaru Fofana   Dec. 5, 2014
MONROVIA/FREETOWN --More than 175 Nigerian medics arrived in Liberia and Sierra Leone on Friday to join the fight against Ebola, the first of 600 volunteers promised by the regional giant which contained its own outbreak earlier this year.

An army medic teaches NHS staff how to dispose of potentially contaminated waste last month, before their deployment to Sierra Leone. Photograph: Simon Davis/AFP/Getty Images

The medics will boost weak local health systems that are also struggling to contain other preventable diseases as Ebola discourages people from going to clinics for fear of contracting the fever.

"This is the African spirit you are showing, this is the Nigerian spirit,” Nigeria's ambassador to Liberia, Chigozie Obi-Nnadozie, told 76 Nigerian medics who landed there.

Another 100 volunteers landed in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Months into the Ebola response, experts say they are still short of medical personnel to staff treatment centers.

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African Stars Give ‘Band Aid 30’ Ebola Track Cool Welcome

voanews.com - by Henry Ridgwell - Nov 28, 2014



Dozens of British music stars have come together to record a new version of the song ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ to raise money for the fight against Ebola. But as Henry Ridgwell reports from London, the song has not been universally welcomed in Africa - where local music stars have recorded their own Ebola single.

http://www.voanews.com/media/video/african-stars-give-band-aid-thirty-ebola-track-cool-welcome/2538714.html

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Government accused of failing to provide emergency care for British ebola volunteers

THE TELEGRAPH   By Colin Freeman                                                                                         Nov. 26, 2014British medics who have volunteered to fight the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone have accused the Government of failing to offer them proper emergency back-up if they get infected.

The government is planning to despatch up to 1,500 NHS volunteers to the west African nation over coming months, as part of a £125m aid programme that a force of 800 British troops began rolling out last month.

But officials have refused to guarantee that any medic who catches the virus will be flown back to Britain for treatment, insisting that most cases can be dealt by a British army clinic that has been set up in the capital, Freetown.

The ruling has caused disquiet among some medics, who point out that the British army facility is not equipped with either kidney dialysis machines or artificial lungs, both of which could be necessary for treatment of anyone with advanced Ebola symptoms.

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First British volunteers fly to Sierra Leone to battle Ebola

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS                                Nov. 22, 2014

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone -- The first wave of volunteers from Britain's National Health Service arrived in Sierra Leone Saturday amid what the World Health Organization has described as an "intense" surge in cases.

A sign reading 'Kill Ebola Before Ebola Kill You', on a gate is mounted as part of the country's Ebola awareness campaign in the city of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Sept. 14, 2014. (AP / Michael Duff, File)

More than 30 NHS staffers, including general practitioners and nurses, were expected to stay in Freetown, the capital, for one week of training before moving to treatment centres across the country, Britain's Department for International Development said in a statement.

They join nearly 1,000 British soldiers, scientists and aid workers already in the country participating in the Ebola fight, International Development Secretary Justine Greening said.

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Queen Fears Ebola Push at Expense of Other Killer Diseases

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Ebola outbreak: UK centre opening in Sierra Leone

BBC                                             Nov. 5, 2014
By Clive Myrie

FREETOWN --A British-run facility to treat people with Ebola is opening in Sierra Leone.

 

The facility offers 92 beds, with an additional 600 expected to be provided by five further centres

The 92-bed site in Kerry Town will be run jointly by the Department for International Development (DfID) and charity Save the Children.

The centre is the first of six which are being constructed by the British government as part of the effort to stop the spread of the disease.

The UK's Disasters Emergency Committee says it has raised £13m for tackling Ebola, a week after its appeal launch. The DEC, which is made up of 13 British aid charities, is helping to run treatment facilities and care centres.

Meanwhile in the UK, Manchester Airport has begun screening passengers arriving from the worst-affected countries.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29911551

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How much countries have donated to the Ebola fight, in one chart


                                                    (Chart by Joss Fong/Vox with data from the One Foundation)

Every day... it seems there is news of a new country or organization pledging money to the Ebola fight. But it's difficult to know whether these promises vanish into thin air or lead to real action on the ground.

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http://www.vox.com/2014/11/3/7150149/chart-how-much-countries-have-actually-given-to-the-ebola-virus-outbreak

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Ebola: Abbott government relents, will send Australian volunteers to treat victims

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD                       Nov. 4, 2014
By Peter Hartcher

SYDNEY, Australia--The Abbott government is set to announce that it will assist several hundred Australian expert volunteers travel to one of the Ebola hotspots of Africa to help control the epidemic.

Australian Prime Minister ABBOTT. The government has struck an agreement to manage a British field hospital in Sierra Leone, according to diplomatic sources. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

An official announcement is expected on Wednesday.

It is the first hands-on help that the government has agreed to give. To now, it has resisted sending personnel and given financial aid only.

The government agreed to contribute to the international effort to halt the epidemic at source only after making evacuation plans for any Australian volunteer who might become infected. Britain has agreed to treat Australian volunteers as if they were their own, officials said.

Any infected Australian worker would be evacuated to Britain for treatment. There is also provision for access to treatment in Germany under a British arrangement.

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UK to build three new Ebola labs in Sierra Leone

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH                     Nov. 1, 2014
By Colin Freeman

Britain has pledged £20 million to build three new Ebola testing laboratories in Sierra Leone, a move that will save lives by slashing the time required to tell whether a patient has the virus.

Chinese medical workers training staff in protection against ebola at the Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital, Freetown, Sierra Leone Photo: Xinhua News Agency/REX

At present, the sheer number of cases is overwhelming the ability of testing labs to cope, with a wait of up to five days or more for results to come back.

The building of the new labs is expected to reduce that time to a 24-hour turn around, meaning that patients who later get the all-clear do not have to spend several days waiting in treatment centres where they might be at risk of infection.

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Ebola outbreak: UK aid ship docks in Sierra Leone

The Argus arrives with supplies and medical personnel to assist Serra Leone

 BBC                                                              Oct. 30, 2010

By AndrewHarding

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone--  A British Navy support ship ship has arrived in Sierra Leone to help deal with the deadly Ebola outbreak in the West African country.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus is carrying food, medical equipment, three helicipeters and 32 pick-up trucks, to help keep hard-pressed Ebola treatment centres going.

Doctors, nurses and military personnel are also on board.

The BBC's Africa correspondent Andrew Harding said it would act as an offshore base for the aid effort. and described it as an "important moment".

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http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29836657

 
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