Australia is being reckless in continuing to ignore its international obligation to send personnel to help the fight against Africas worsening Ebola outbreak, one of the worlds leading humanitarian groups says. A senior Australian representative of aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres said countries such as Australia did not have time to sit around on the sidelines given the pace of the spread of the disease. Medecins Sans Frontieres, which is also known by its English name Doctors Without Borders, has more than 270 international staff posted in Ebola-affected areas in west Africa. Advertisement The Abbott government said on Friday that it would be irresponsible to deploy medical personnel in Africa without an ironclad agreement ensuring any personnel that become infected would be evacuated and treated at facilities in the US, Britain or Europe. It has instead pledged $10 million to a United Nations Ebola assistance fund and put a rapid response team on alert should the disease be detected in the Asia-Pacific region. But Medecins Sans Frontieres advocacy manager Jon Edwards told Fairfax Media that spread of the epidemic meant that countries such as Australia needed to send personnel now. As the outbreak continues to grow – and it can and will continue to spread – the decision not to send Australian personnel to help contain Ebola is reckless itself, Mr Edwards said. The money [provided by the government] is great, but its not the solution. It cant create the doctors, nurses and medical teams needed to actually fight the disease.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 03:56:11 +0000
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