World Bank Pledges USD 200 Million to Contain Spread of Ebola

Washington: The World Bank has pledged USD 200 million in emergency funding to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to help the West African countries contain spread of deadly Ebola infections and improve public health systems.

World Bank President Dr Jim Yong Kim, who is experienced in the treatment of the infectious diseases, said the new financing commitment was in response to a call from both the three African countries hardest-hit by Ebola and the World Health Organisation for immediate assistance to contain the outbreak.

In a statement, he said the World Bank Group would 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.

'I have been monitoring its deadly impact around the clock and 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,' Kim said.

'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 neighboring at-risk countries,' he said.

Welcoming the support from the World Bank, WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan said the demands created by this unprecedented outbreak outstrip the capacity of affected countries in West Africa to respond.

'So funding to increase national response capacities is a fundamentally important way to slow transmission and prevent spread to other areas,' he said.

With the Ebola virus now directly and indirectly impacting economies in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and neighboring countries, the new WB Group emergency response will also help countries and communities cope with financial hardship caused by the outbreak, a media statement said. An initial World Bank-IMF assessment for Guinea projects a full percentage point fall in GDP growth from 4.5 per cent to 3.5 percent.

Agriculture has also been affected in all three countries as rural workers have fled farming areas in the affected zones. To date, there has been no measurable impact on the food supply, it said.

The World Bank said cross-border commerce has slowed considerably with land crossings closed to neighboring countries and more recently cancellation of flights.