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World Bank donates $100 million more to Ebola fight

The financial organization has pledged over $500 million so far.

By Ed Adamczyk
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. UPI File/Mike Theiler
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. UPI File/Mike Theiler | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- The World Bank announced $100 million more in funding Thursday in its response to West Africa's Ebola crisis.

The new funding brings the Washington-based international finance organization's contribution to over $500 million, and will be used to deploy more healthcare workers to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, where the World Health Organization said Ebola deaths have risen beyond 5,000. The United Nations has said 5,000 more healthcare personnel, from around the world, are needed.

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"The world's response to the Ebola crisis has increased significantly in recent weeks, but we still have a huge gap in getting enough trained health workers to the areas with the highest infection rates," World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement. "We must urgently find ways to break any barriers to the deployment of more health workers. It is our hope that this $100 million can help be a catalyst for a rapid surge of health workers to the communities in dire need."

The World Bank noted that pay, benefits, recruitment, training and assurances of safety have all been issues preventing a global influx of trained personnel to the affected region.

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