Roundup: African official praises China's "unprecedented" anti- Ebola aid

A senior Sierra Leonean health official has commended China's "unprecedented" anti-Ebola efforts in Africa, saying no strings attached to China's assistance.

Dr. Brima Kargbo, the Chief Medical Officer of the country's Ministry of Health, lauded the "humanitarian and unprecedented assistance" from China to Sierra Leone since the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease that has claimed nearly 10,000 lives.

Kargbo said the medical experts and the materials from China have contributed "immensely in reversing the disastrous effect of the Ebola scourge".

China has carried out its largest overseas aid program in the health area since the Ebola outbreak, providing several rounds of humanitarian aid with a combined value of more than 120 million U. S. dollars and sending hundreds of medical workers to the African frontline.

Beijing has offered another 10 million dollars in cash to international organizations as part of the global collective efforts in subduing the fatal virus.

The Chinese contribution, he said, came in even before the call by the country's President on the international community for assistance. In addition to sending equipment and protective equipment and ambulances to these countries, China also built Ebola treatment units for local people.

Kargbo mentioned the prompt delivery of the Chinese mobile lab that contributed in no small measure in testing of blood samples, which considerably reduced the suspense or waiting time to get the results.

Moreover, Chinese medical teams decided to transform the Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital built at Jui, some 30 km north of the capital Freetown, to a holding center and later to a treatment center where scores of Ebola patients were cared for and survived the disease.

He went further to say that Chinese aid to developing countries like Africa is "timely and in good quality".

He recalled that at the outbreak of the virus in the country in May last year, Chinese ambassador to Sierra Leone Zhao Yanbo promised the country a permanent P3 bio safety lab, the sod- cutting ceremony of which took place in November last year.

The project is now completed and equipped, ready for test "for all viral diseases as well as infectious diseases," said Kargbo.

According to him, the lab will serve as the first Center for Disease Control in the country that will serve not only Sierra Leone but the West African region.

Apart from the medical personnel and medicines, Kargbo also mentioned the Chinese public health training team who have trained up to thousands of community people on how to "control and manage the Ebola virus".

The medical expert noted that public health experts from China helped to intensify surveillance response and the isolation of suspected cases, and the Chinese support was spread countrywide with all areas in the country benefiting.

On post-Ebola, Dr. Kargbo looked forward to Chinese assistance especially in building the health care system in the country. Endi