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

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