Following the devastating effect of Ebola disease across the West African sub-region, with the latest death toll estimated at 887 persons, the World Bank Group has pledged to donate $200 million to help Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone contain the spread of Ebola infections.
The fund will help their communities cope with the economic impact of the crisis and improve public health systems throughout West Africa.
Making the pledge, the World Bank Group President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim (a medical doctor experienced in the treatment of infectious diseases), said the new financing commitment was in response to a call from the three African countries hardest-hit by Ebola and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for immediate assistance to contain the spread of the virus.
According to him, the World Bank Group would also step up social safety net assistance for affected communities and families and help to build up public health systems in West Africa to strengthen the region’s disease control capacity more generally.
Kim said he would brief the bank group’s Board of Executive Directors as soon as possible on the latest state of the epidemic and seek their approval for the new emergency package.
Said Kim: “I am very worried that many more lives are at risk unless we can stop this Ebola epidemic in its tracks. I have been monitoring its deadly impact around the clock and I am deeply saddened at how it has ravaged health workers, families and communities, disrupted normal life, and has led to a breakdown of already weak health systems in the three countries.
“The international community needs to act fast to contain and stop this Ebola outbreak. I believe this new World Bank emergency funding will provide critically needed support for the response to stop the further transmission of Ebola within Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which would prevent new infections in neighbouring at-risk countries,” he said.
Kim, whose announcement came on the first day of the US-Africa Summit in Washington D.C, said the new financial pledge would pay for urgently needed medical supplies, salaries for medical staff and other vital materials to stabilise the health system, while also helping communities cope with financial hardship caused by the epidemic.

Ebola: World Bank donates $200m to Guinea, Liberia, S’Leone