News note

UNICEF: Ten Ebola Community Care Centers to open in Bombali district, Sierra Leone

Centres will offer community-based care options to Ebola patients

Photos, videos and broll about the centres is available here.



GENEVA/FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 14 November 2014 – Ten new Ebola Community Care Centers are due to open this week in Sierra Leone’s Bombali district as part of a new drive to bring Ebola care closer to communities.

Built by UNICEF, the tented centers will boost the number of beds in Bombali, one of the districts worst hit by the current Ebola outbreak which has killed more than 1,000 people in Sierra Leone since May.

“These 8-bed centers will allow those with the Ebola virus to be isolated within their communities, in a place where they can get basic care, free medicine, safe water and sanitation, and food supplies,” said Roeland Monasch, UNICEF Representative in Sierra Leone.

The centers will be run by the Government of Sierra Leone through their District Health Management Team, with local non-governmental organization World Hope International providing training, monitoring and social mobilization support. They will be staffed by trained health workers, equipped with personal protective equipment.

Construction followed extensive consultation with local authorities and traditional leaders to make sure they are an accepted and integrated part of local communities. As well as providing basic care and isolation, these will also serve as focal points for safe and dignified burials and activities to raise awareness among communities.

UNICEF is providing the tents, tarpaulins and construction materials to build the centres, along with the day-to-day supplies needed to keep health workers safe from infection and provide patients with supportive treatment. Funding was provided by the UK Department for International Development.

UNICEF is planning to build around 30 more centers in neighbouring districts in the coming weeks.

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Photos and video from Ebola-affected countries can be downloaded from: http://uni.cf/1xZAb39

Note to editors:

This week in Copenhagen, a UNICEF-led consultation with partners and the personal protection equipment (PPE) industry was seen as a major step in forecasting the quantity of Ebola Personal Protective Equipment that will be needed in the months ahead. At minimum, a 30 percent gap was identified and therefore an increase in global production is urgently required by December.

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.



For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org



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For more information, please contact:

John James, UNICEF Sierra Leone, + 232 76 102 401, jjames@unicef.org



Christophe Boulierac, UNICEF Geneva, +41 799 639 244, cboulierac@unicef.org



Laurent Duvillier, UNICEF Dakar, +221 777 403 577, lduvillier@unicef.org



Najwa Mekki, UNICEF New York, +1917 209 1804, nmekki@unicef.org