Monrovia — The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria H.E. Goodluck Jonathan has announced his country's donation of Five Hundred Thousand ((500,000.00) United States Dollars to the Government of Liberia to aid with the fight against the deadly Ebola Virus.
President Jonathan made the donation on Thursday, July 10, 2014 at the ongoing 45th Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government taking place in the Ghanaian capital, Accra.
The half a million dollar United Dollars donation to Liberia is in response to the launch of the ECOWAS Special Fund for the Fight Against Ebola announced by the Chairperson of ECOWAS and Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama. President Jonathan also made a donation to Guinea, Sierra Leone, the West African Health Organization (WHAO) and the ECOWAS Pool Fund Against Ebola totaling 3.5 million United States Dollars.
Heads of State of ECOWAS made the decision to launch the pool fund against Ebola following a report to the Summit by the Director General of the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO) Dr. Xavier Crespin. In his report, the WAHO Director General informed the leaders about the threat the Ebola epidemic is posing to the sub-region especially the three affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
He informed the Summit that 844 cases linked to Ebola have been reported in the three countries out of which 518 deaths have occurred so far. He disclosed about 15 million United States Dollars will be needed to fight Ebola given the scale of the crisis in the three countries and to prevent the virus from spreading to other West African nations.
Giving an update on the scale of the Ebola situation in Liberia during the summit, Vice President Joseph Boakai disclosed that 87 deaths have been reported while there 131 suspected and confirmed cases of the virus in Liberia. Vice President Boakai spoke of efforts by the Liberian Government to step up the fight and awareness against the disease.
While calling for more support, the Liberian Vice P[resident commended the West African Health Organization for an earlier the donation of 250 thousand United States Dollars to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone as part of efforts to combat Ebola. (Sixty-six thousand Dollars) of the amount went to the Government of Liberia through its Ministry of Health.
Vice President Boakai thanked WAHO and other members of the international donor community for their assistance so far to Liberia and then lifted praises to Nigerian President Jonathan for what he described as a truly brotherly donation.
Meanwhile, Ghanaian President Mahama has called on other member states of ECOWAS to join the fight against Ebola by following the footsteps of Nigeria by contributing to the ECOWAS Fund to Combat Ebola.
Vice President Boakai is leading the Liberian Government delegation to the ongoing ECOWAS Summit in Accra, Ghana, which include Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan along with a host of other Liberian Government Officials.
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