Toronto/CMEDIA: Canada will reportedly provide $8 million in international assistance funding to support organizations responding to the Ebola disease outbreak.
This builds on Canada’s longstanding global health security efforts, including addressing the spread of infectious diseases to help save lives and keep Canadians safe.
The funds are being allocated as follows:
- The World Health Organization, the UN’s lead agency for health emergencies, will be allocated $3.5 million through its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to support governments and partners in rapid response
- The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) will be allocated $2 million in response to their appeal to accelerate surveillance and to support biosecurity measures
- The Canadian Red Cross will be allocated $1.8 million to support local Red Cross societies to trace and prevent infection, provide health support services and strengthen hygiene and sanitation.
- Through the Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund, a project with the Humanitarian Coalition, $350,000 will be allocated to Oxfam-Quebec and $350,000 will be allocated to World Vision Canada, supporting vital assistance including clean water and sanitation, essential non-food items and health services in the DRC.
Canada supports the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund, a pooled humanitarian fund, which has also been used to support response efforts in the DRC. Aso supporting the deployment of Canadian Red Cross experts, assists humanitarian response operations of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in the region.
Continuing to monitor the situation, Canada remains in close contact with experienced partners to assess and respond to evolving needs, and is a large donor to global health partners, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Several of these organizations are redirecting investments toward the Ebola response in Uganda and the DRC, based on consultation with WHO and national authorities
Global Affairs Canada’s Weapons Threat Reduction Program, through the Canada-led Signature Initiative to Mitigate Biological Threats in Africa, has a long-standing collaboration with Africa CDC to strengthen biosecurity, detect and respond to threats posed by Ebola and other high-consequence diseases of security concern.
