MSF has described the response to the Ebola epidemic so far as ‘lethally inadequate’. Photo: AFP
An aid organisation has rejected the Abbott government’s multimillion-dollar pledge to help fight the Ebola epidemic, saying more personnel and equipment are urgently needed instead.
Medecins Sans Frontieres Australia (Doctors Without Borders) says the $2.5 million offered on Wednesday would be better spent providing the same sort of logistical help as provided by military assistance in major disasters.
“Let’s be very clear. It’s not MSF’s role nor should it be to substitute the responsibility of the Australian government or any other state in addressing this (epidemic),” MSF Australia executive director Paul McPhun told AAP.
“This money would be better spent providing capacity that Medecins Sans Frontieres and other NGOs cannot.