News Release: Canada offers essential protective equipment to help stop the spread of Ebola in West Africa
Today's announcement, making available over $2.5 million in personal protective equipment (PPE) to the World Health Organization (WHO), responds to the WHO's appeal for PPE for use by front-line workers in West Africa.
The Government of Canada's offer of PPE will aid in the global response to the Ebola outbreak, and will directly help protect healthcare workers as they treat patients and work to contain the outbreak.
Specifically, Canada has offered the following supplies*:
- N95 respirators - 500,000
- Examination gloves - 1,500,000
- Surgical gloves - 3,500
- Hooded coverall suits - 50
- Face shields - 2,100,000
- Isolation gowns - 1,250,000
The final donation will be based on requirements determined by the WHO.
Canada's donation is being made from surplus stock currently available through the Agency's National Emergency Strategic Stockpile (NESS) and Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB). The domestic stockpile for emergencies will continue to have sufficient supply to meet Canada's own needs and protect Canadians.
To date, Canada's financial contribution totals $5,195,000 in support of humanitarian and security interventions that are addressing the spread of the Ebola virus in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
Canada has also sent a mobile lab to Sierra Leone to do rapid testing, as well as donated 800-1000 doses of an experimental vaccine, known as Vesicular Stomatitis Virus-based vaccine for the Ebola virus or "VSV-EBOV".
The Government of Canada is taking a whole-of-government approach to aggressively fight the Ebola outbreak in the West Africa region.
- Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) is providing a total of $3 million to the WHO to strengthen the field response to the outbreak and mitigate associated threats to health and security.
- The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is providing $385,000 to the WHO through the International Health Grants Program. These funds are supporting the WHO's request to member countries to help support in-country operational costs, the coordination and deployment of international technical expertise, as well as infection prevention and control, enhanced surveillance and outbreak response capacity in the affected region. The Agency is also providing on-the-ground laboratory diagnostic support.
- DFATD's International Humanitarian Assistance Program is contributing $1.7 million to support humanitarian interventions led by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to reduce and control the spread of the virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and to provide care to those affected.
- DFATD has also provided a total of $295,000 to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to support the response to the outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone through its Emergency Disaster Assistance Fund, which is managed by the Canadian Red Cross Society. This includes $100,000 to support the Red Cross Society of Guinea; $70,000 to support the Liberian Red Cross Society; $55,000 to support the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society as well as $70,000 for the Nigerian Red Cross.
- DFATD is also supporting the deployment of four Canadian Red Cross delegates to Guinea and Sierra Leone to support the IFRC's response efforts through the DFATD-Canadian Red Cross Strategic Partnership.
* The break down of numbers are approximates
