The European Union (EU) has pledged an amount of five hundred million Euros to help battle the Ebola virus in West Africa.
The disease, which has killed over 4, 500 people since the start of the year, is most prevalent in West African countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Following an appeal for funds to fight the epidemic in September by the United Nations (UN), donors have reportedly given almost $400m to UN agencies and aid organisations, .
[contextly_sidebar id=”hjCVcunAHTlE2toGFzmQvfQxUBYDEWP1″]Earlier in October, Facebook Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr Priscilla Chan donated $25m, while the African Development Bank (AfDB) also donated $50 million to help in the fight against the disease in the West African sub-region.
The EU made the pledge at a press briefing in Accra on Monday, stating that it believed the European bloc had a responsibilty to assist the affected countries deal with the epidemic.
According to the Head of the EU’s Delegation to Ghana, William Hanna, Europe is “really concerned about Ebola. It is a problem for the world, there’s a need for coordination and a need for working closely together in [Africa]. So we can, ourselves and others as well work in Ghana to see what we can do to increase plans and preparedness, to be ready to face the challenge of Ebola. So the EU is pledging five hundred million euros to address that crisis.”
He added that the Union, would like to maintain their partnership with Ghana and will continue investing in the country’s development .
“Europe is still the biggest source of foreign direct investment in Ghana and we are the largest provider of development assistance. and we’d like that to continue, more investment in the future,” he said.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana