A Tasmanian man who has lost eight relatives to the Ebola virus is preparing to send a shipment of medical equipment from Sydney to Sierra Leone.
The west African country is in a state of emergency, with more than 2,000 recorded cases of the virus.
It is estimated nearly 600 people have died and last week Sierra Leone enforced the largest lockdown so far, quarantining more than 1 million people.
The unfolding crisis has prompted Isaiah Lahai to organise a shipment of supplies, including medical protective gear such as aprons, gloves and masks.
Mr Lahai has experienced first-hand the devastating effects of Ebola.
“I received a call from my family in Africa, Sierra Leone, that I’ve lost eight close members of my family to Ebola,” he said.
He spent 14 years in African refugee camps before moving to Tasmania in 2006.
A disaster relief organisation based in Sydney has funded the shipment which he hopes will be the first of many.
“My aim is to make sure that whatever we get from Australia is properly used and is meeting the need of the real people on the ground,” he said.
“Containing Ebola requires not only money but it requires the resources of medical supplies.
“There is a very serious need for food, there is need for infrastructure and development and a whole lot of other things, so at the moment we are open to any support we can get.”
Mr Lahai will travel to Sydney to inspect the equipment which he hopes will be on its way next week.
The supplies have been donated by a New South Wales-based disaster resources organisation.
Mr Lahai wants Australia to do more.
“Australia should send doctors that are qualified, doctors that are actually able to put the Ebola outbreak under control,” he said.
“If we do not do something now Ebola outbreak is going to be a global epidemic.”
Ebola has been declared an international public health emergency and the first case in the United States was confirmed earlier this week.
In late September almost 7,000 people in West African countries had contracted the potentially deadly virus.
The World Health Organisation estimates the death toll to be more than 3,000.