The US has expressed optimism that with the support of other international organizations, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa will be contained in the next 100 days.
The US has set for its self a 120-day target to get the disease come under control.
It is currently half way through the first 30 days by getting its staff and personnel on the ground to the affected countries.
[contextly_sidebar id=”mNpjBVKN1mnyuPxgCcocvc0fM3A4bgyN”]“60 days is to complete 70 of the task it believes are necessary to contain the spread of the virus. 90 days is to begin to see a change in infection rate…and 120 days it to really begin to say that you are starting to see this epidemic under control.” said Donald Lu, Deputy Coordinator for Ebola response in the US state Department.
To achieve this, the US says it has committed over $175 million to date to help the fight.
It has also dispatched thousands of Ebola Test kits to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Currently, some of the 3, 000 military personnel from the Africa Command are in Liberia.
The activities of this command will be coordinated by a joint force command which will be based in Monrovia, Liberia.
“The military has unique capabilities that our government needs during this crises to support this international effort” Said Lt. General Steven Hummer, Deputy Commander for military operation “our focus is on coordinating military support by providing logistics, training and engineering support,” he said.
The US Africa command will be expected to train 500 health care workers every week.
The command engineers will also build additional Ebola treatment centers in affected places.
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the US has provided the largest international response in its history as 100 of its men are already on the ground in West Africa.
Despite the support and commitment from the US and other international communities, report from the ground seems to suggest no impact was being seen.
Undertakers from Sierra Leone from instance threatened a strike over unpaid weekly allowances of $200.
The non availability of ambulances to pick sick people to Ebola centers has also been listed as a threat to containing the disease.
Donald Lu said: “As journalist cover the story, it is important to look at what each of the countries you come from is doing and ask if we are doing enough.”
By: Betty Kankam-Boadu/citifmonline.com/Ghana