Canada’s Health Minister Rona Ambrose announces more money to fight the spread of Ebola.
Photo Credit: Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press

More money, but not health workers to fight Ebola

Canada has promised an additional $30.5 million to fight Ebola, spending it on pharmaceutical research and more quarantine officers at Canadian airports. It will not however answer the call from aid agencies to send medical personnel.

Canada has sent two mobile laboratories with scientists to Sierra Leone to run rapids tests to detect Ebola. It does not want to send nurses and doctors because it has no way to return them if they become infected. While the government has not sent medical personnel, 34 Canadians have volunteered with Médecins Sans Frontières in West Africa.

Canada has already announced donations of $65.5 million to combat Ebola. The new $30.5 million will be divided as follows:

  • $1 million to deploy new quarantine officers to Canada’s airports.
  • $3 million to help front-line workers in Canada with training and equipment.
  • $23.5 million for research and development of Ebola vaccines and other treatments.
  • $3 million to further support the World Health Organization.

Health Minister Rona Ambrose confirmed that all of the personal protective equipment Canada promised has already arrived in West Africa. It includes gloves, mask and gowns.

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