22nd October, 2014
World Vision has launched a special emergency appeal aimed at raising funds to join the global effort to tackle the Ebola crisis – the first time the organisation has launched an appeal aimed at combatting a specific disease.
World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello said that with the number of new cases doubling every 20 days, the disease had "rightly captured our attention in a way never seen before". He said the world only has a few weeks to contain the epidemic.
The disease has now claimed more than 4,500 lives and continues to spread in the West African nations of Guinea – where the current outbreak began – as well as Liberia and Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization this week declared Nigeria "Ebola-free" but there have now been cases reported as far afield as the US and Spain.
World Vision, which has already sent a planeload of five million items of protective clothing and equipment and trained 750 healthcare workers in prevention and control measures, said it was scaling up its response to the crisis in Sierra Leone where the death rate has reportedly passed more than 20 a day and where Mr Costello said bodies have been left lying in the streets because people are too fearful to bury them.
The upgraded response will include a major campaign to raise awareness in affected communities of how to identify symptoms and prevent the spread of the disease through hygiene practices and prompt referrals to treatment as well as the provision of food and other practical and psychological support to children whose parents have died.
World Vision says more than 3,700 have been orphaned by the epidemic. "The disease is destroying whole families, whole communities; it’s a level of suffering that we cannot turn out backs on," said Mr Costello.
To donate to World Vision’s Ebola Outbreak Appeal, call 13 32 40 or visit www.worldvision.com.au.
– DAVID ADAMS