Obama To Ask For $88 Mn To Boost Anti-Ebola Effort

@AFP
Obama To Ask For $88 Mn To Boost Anti-Ebola Effort

Washington (AFP) — President Barack Obama plans to ask Congress to approve his request for $88 million to fund a major Ebola offensive in West Africa that would include greater military involvement, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Obama is due to outline his plan Tuesday during a visit to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

The initiative could include sending additional portable hospitals, doctors and health care experts, as well as providing medical supplies and training local health workers, the Journal cited people familiar with the matter as saying.

It is expected to have four components: controlling the outbreak where it emerged in West Africa; increasing the competence of the region’s public health system, especially in hard-hit Liberia; building local capacity through enhanced health care provider training; and increasing support from international organizations such as the United Nations and World Health Organization.

“There’s a lot that we’ve been putting toward this, but it is not sufficient,” Obama’s counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco told the newspaper.

“So the president has directed a more scaled-up response and that’s what you’re going to hear more about on Tuesday.”

The U.S. military could help direct supplies, set up tent hospitals and deploy medical personnel needed around the world to isolate and treat those sickened with the disease in order to stop it from spreading and improve their chances of recovery.

“We think these measures, this enhanced response, will help us bring this under control,” an administration official told the newspaper.

“The military has unique capabilities in terms of logistical capacities, in terms of manpower, in terms of operating in austere environments.”

The Journal said Obama would seek commitments of funds, material and health workers during a world leaders summit at the United Nations next week to build a stronger international response.

The Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa has killed more than 2,400 people since it erupted earlier this year, according to the World Health Organization.

Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are the hardest-hit countries.

The World Food Program says it has stepped up its assistance to the three countries grappling with the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola.

AFP Photo/Zoom Dosso

Interested in more world news? Sign up for our daily email newsletter.

Advertising

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

If You Think  Kristen Welker Flubbed Her Trump Interview, Think Again

Former President Donald Trump with NBC correspondent Kristen Welker

How would you like to be assigned to interview Defendant Trump? No matter what you ask, no matter how hard you push him, no matter how many facts you throw at him, all you’re going to get is a wall of lies and criticism for not going after him hard enough.

Keep reading...Show less
Donald Trump

45th U.S. President

Donald Trump

On Friday, Donald Trump was in Washington, D.C., to appear at something called the “Pray Vote Stand Summit.” In a relatively brief speech, Trump repeatedly fumbled basic facts, made mistakes about his own elections, and devolved into what some observers accurately called a “word salad.”

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}