On Wednesday, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation announced that the group will be donating $50 million to the United Nations, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and various other international organizations that are working towards supporting the Ebola outbreak emergency response in West Africa. Reportedly, this is the foundation's most substantial donation to any humanitarian effort to date.
President of the foundation's Global Development, Chris Elias, released a statement saying, "It became clear to us over the last 7 to 10 days that the pace and scope of the epidemic was increasing significantly." According to them, the money will be directed towards the purchase of medical supplies and equipment for the distress countries to help strengthen whatever health care systems are already in place, as well as for the development of diagnostic tools, vaccines, and other potential therapeutic options to stop the highly lethal Ebola virus. Although, at the moment, Elias could not yet confirm how much of that donation will be spent on research and development, and how much for emergency response, they have already coordinated with their global partners to ensure that the funds will be handled most efficiently. They have already previously given $10 million for the same cause.
The foundation said that giving money to the proper agencies that can help accelerate the development of possible treatment and prevention measures is their way of contributing to the fight against the Ebola outbreak. Their decision is also, primarily, a response to the global appeal by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to raise $600 million to augment the currently stretched resources of the global Ebola response. Currently, the Ebola virus has already claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people across the West African region including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, and Guinea.
