The Netherlands is sending three teams of specialised laboratory technicians to Liberia and Sierra Leone to help fight the Ebola outbreak there. They will be working in mobile laboratories, purchased by the Netherlands and transported to the region by the Joint Support Ship Karel Doorman, conducting blood tests to establish whether patients are infected with the disease. According to Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen, this fulfils an important need. ‘The UN has announced that they are in desperate need of laboratories and specialised personnel,’ she said. ‘Our contribution will boost these countries’ medical testing capacity considerably: a crucial contribution to the Ebola response.’

The three teams of four or five staff each will operate on a rotating basis, spending several weeks at a time working in the mobile laboratories in Liberia and Sierra Leone. A total of 50 laboratory technicians, specially trained to work in the Ebola-hit region, will be involved. The government has been working together with the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam and aid organisation Save the Children for this purpose. ‘We obviously have the knowledge and skills to help fight Ebola,’ said Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Edith Schippers, ‘and that’s something to be proud of. But more importantly, we also have people who are willing to work in the affected region. They are not doing this for themselves, but to help others, and they have my deepest respect.’

The Netherlands is one of the larger donors in the efforts to tackle the Ebola outbreak. So far it has made more than €37 million available, including contributions to the World Health Organization, the Red Cross and UNICEF. The Netherlands has also deployed the Karel Doorman to transport aid supplies to the affected countries. The ship will leave Vlissingen today with a second consignment and is expected to arrive in West Africa in the last week of December.