Brussels, 30/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - As part of the intensified fight against the Ebola epidemic, Unicef - in partnership with the European Union - sent a cargo plane of 14 ambulances and emergency health equipment to Guinea from Zaragoza airport in Spain on Wednesday 29 October. This is the third cargo plane that Unicef has sent to one of the three Ebola-affected countries in West Africa thanks to a €1 million contribution from the EU's humanitarian budget.
“Bringing emergency supplies to the Ebola-affected countries is vital to stop the epidemic. The response capacity remains insufficient even today. We need more actions like today's joint airlift with Unicef to dramatically ramp up the response and prevent Ebola from spreading further in Guinea and beyond”, said Cyprien Fabre, the head of the West Africa office of the European Commission's aid department. In Fabre's view, the epidemic could be contained in the coming months thanks to increasing engagement from international partners and the population, “but we cannot let our guard down until the last case of Ebola has been found and treated”, he warned.
The first plane that Unicef sent in partnership with the EU took off from Amsterdam for Freetown in Sierra Leone on 10 October. It transported vaccines, health supplies and protective equipment. The second plane took off from Luxembourg for Monrovia in Liberia and was also laden with protective equipment, as well as emergency therapeutic food items. The ambulances transported by the third plane bound for Guinea will be used to transport suspected cases of Ebola to treatment facilities both in Conakry and elsewhere in the country. Until now patients have been transported by taxis, thus posing risks of infection for other passengers. This third plane also transported therapeutic food items and protective equipment - for a value of over €500,000. (IL)