As an active and engaged international partner, the Government of Canada is fully committed to supporting the international efforts to combat the Ebola virus disease. Today’s announcement of an additional $30 million contribution to international efforts led by the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) will help strengthen global efforts to stop the outbreak, treat the infected, ensure essential services, preserve stability and prevent the spread of the Ebola virus disease in West Africa. This new funding will be used in the following ways:
- Up to $11 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to assist with the establishment and operation of Ebola treatment units, as well as assist with preparedness activities for local health structures;
- Up to $6 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UNMEER Ebola Multi-Partner Trust Fund to meet critical logistics and transportation needs of responders and meet critical gaps in the response; and,
- Up to $13 million to UNICEF and the WFP to assist communities through health education to increase understanding and engagement in preventative measures, expand in-community care services for Ebola patients, as well as manage the broader humanitarian impact of the crises (for example, food and health services for non-Ebola patients).
Canada is taking a whole-of-government approach to fight the Ebola virus disease in West Africa. With today’s announcement, Canada has committed a total of $65.4 million to the global efforts to support health, humanitarian and security interventions to address the spread of the disease. The Government of Canada has:
- committed $30 million to help support, amongst other things, Canadian and international response efforts to help stop the outbreak, provide treatment, support prevention and preparation efforts as well as respond to the broader humanitarian implications of the outbreak. This includes the allocation of $22 million to support the following UNMEER-led activities underway by humanitarian partners for:
- treatment efforts, including in community care locations ($11 million) –
- WHO ($3.5 million);
- WFP United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) ($3 million); and,
- WFP Logistics Special Operations ($4.5 million).
- prevention efforts, including social mobilization and health education to prevent further spread of disease ($2.5 million to IFRC); and,
- support for the broader humanitarian implications, including meeting the basic needs of affected communities ($6.5 million) –
- WFP ($3.5 million); and,
- UNICEF ($3 million).
- support to surrounding, but as-yet-unaffected, country (“ring country”) preparedness ($2 million to WHO).
- provided $5 million in humanitarian and international security funding to:
- the WHO to strengthen the field response to the outbreak and to support security interventions to address further spread of the disease;
- Médecins Sans Frontières to reduce and control the spread of the virus and provide care to those affected; and,
- the IFRC to support outbreak preparedness and response activities of the National Red Cross Societies in affected and neighbouring countries.
- financed the deployment of humanitarian experts in support of the IFRC as well as United Nations humanitarian agencies.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has also:
- provided approximately $0.4 million to the WHO to help address in-country operational costs, the coordination and deployment of international technical expertise, as well as infection prevention and control, and enhanced surveillance and outbreak response capacity in the affected region;
- sent two mobile laboratories to the region with rotating teams of agency scientists to do rapid diagnostic testing and other research;
- donated 800-1000 doses of Canada’s experimental vaccine; and
- offered more than $2.5 million of personal protective equipment, with two shipments already delivered to West Africa, to help protect front-line healthcare workers as they treat patients and work to contain the outbreak; and,
- Canada’s experimental vaccine is beginning its first ever human clinical trial at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research using donated vaccine from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
