Australia Commits To Running Ebola Treatment Centre In Sierra Leone Via Aspen Medical

Australia has committed to running and funding a 100-bed Ebola treatment centre worth $17 million to be constructed by the UK in Sierra Leone. According to reports, the Abbott government will be contracting a private company to hire local staff to operate the treatment facility. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has ruled out the sending of government workers but some international staff would more likely include Australians.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has since killed 5,000 people mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Australia has been under international scrutiny for failing to do more in response to the crisis despite repeated pleas for help. The government has previously decided to suspend the entry visas of passport holders from countries with known cases of Ebola. The U.S. and UK had called for Australia to send medical teams in response to Ebola.

Mr Abbott refused to send Australian volunteers to West Africa because other governments cannot agree to evacuate medical workers in case they contract Ebola. He feared that Australian medical teams may get stuck with no way out if they get infected, reports said.

At a press conference on Oct. 5, the Australian prime minister announced that the UK government had agreed to treat any Australian aid worker in Ebola-affected countries if they were UK citizens. Mr Abbot has once again reiterated that Australia will not be sending people but will be hiring the services of Aspen Medical to hire staff to operate a treatment centre in Sierra Leone.

Aspen Medical, an Australian health services provider, has been running a clinic in Liberia in the past months. In a Sydney Morning Herald report, officials said any Australian worker who will get infected will either be evacuated to UK for treatment or to Germany under an arrangement with the British government.

Aside from Australia's commitment to run a treatment centre, the government has given AU$2 million to aid Ebola teams in logistics and another AU$2million to ensure Australia's neighbouring countries like Papua New Guinea and East Timor can treat Ebola if cases are discovered there.

Mr Abbott said he expects the treatment facility in Sierra Leone to be operational by the end of November. Glenn Keys from Aspen Medical confirmed that there would be Australians working as staff but they might only make up 10 to 20 percent of the team. Reports said about 240 staff will be needed to run the facility. The company has since received 300 applications from healthcare workers willing to come and help.