SAN FRANCISCO, September 16, (THEWILL) – United States President Barack Obama has approved 3000 troops to West Africa to help combat and contain the deadly Ebola virus that has killed over 2100 persons in West Africa.
The Obama administration measure will help provide needed medical aid as well as logistic support to overwhelmed local health personnel.
Administration officials said that the new initiatives aim to:
— Train as many as 500 healthcare workers each week.
— Erect 17 health care facilities in the region each with 100 beds.
— Set up a joint command headquartered in Monrovia, Liberia, to coordinate between U.S. and international relief efforts.
— Provide home healthcare kits to hundreds of thousands of households, including 50,000 that the U.S. Agency for International Development will deliver to Liberia this week.
— Carry out a home- and community-based campaign to train local populations on how to handle exposed patients.
According to CBS news which spoke to an official in the administration, the cost of the effort would come from $500 million in overseas contingency operations. The Pentagon has asked Congress to redirect funds in order to carry out humanitarian efforts in Iraq and West Africa.
It would take about two weeks to get U.S. forces on the ground, the officials said.
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