Rising Ebola Death Toll Not Enough Reason for Australia to Send Health Workers

Despite desperate appeals for help, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has refused to send doctors health workers to West Africa. The prime minister said he will not risk the lives of health workers and send them into "harm's way." The government is not planning on sending doctors until it is certain that all the risks were managed properly.

According to the latest figures released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 4,000 people have been killed as the Ebola virus continued to ravage West Africa. A total of 8,399 cases have been registered, as reported by The Guardian. Among those dead were 233 health workers who contracted the virus while caring for their patients.

International aid organisations like Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders have criticised the Australian government for its inadequate response to the Ebola outbreak. Reports said Australia has given financial aid to WHO, MSF and the UK front line operations in Sierra Leone. Australia has ignored appeals from aid workers who have returned to the country after serving in the international Red Cross to send military troops or logistics support to set up field hospitals.

Save the Children has urged the government to follow the United States' lead in sending troops in West Africa to help manage the ongoing efforts to control epidemic. However, Mr Abbott has declared that the rising death toll will not change the government's decision regarding the deployment of Australian health workers.

Mr Abbott said he was not "confident" that the risks in the Ebola-infected areas have been properly managed. The prime minister added that he admired the "selfless humanitarianism" of dozens of Australian nurses and doctors currently working with aid organisations in West Africa. However, he said there was a big difference in ordering Australians to go to West Africa without minimizing the risks. He said it would be "irresponsible" for the Australian government to order health workers away.

Sue-Ellen Kovack, an Australian nurse who worked in Sierra Leone, had tested negative for Ebola after she was quarantined when she checked into a hospital in Cairns with a low-grade fever. The latest Ebola scare had prompted an outburst from federal MP Bob Katter who said aid workers were bringing Ebola risk in Australia.