By Michael Donaldson and Clarissa Thorpe
A peak health body has increased the pressure on the Prime Minister Tony Abbott to send Australian medical experts to Ebola hot spots.
The Public Health Association of Australia has drafted a letter to Mr Abbott asking him to send medical staff and support teams to West Africa to help contain the deadly outbreak.
Mr Abbott has previously said he was not confident all of the risks are being properly managed and ruled out sending Australians.
“We are not going to send Australian doctors and nurses into harms way,” he said.
But the Australian Government has allocated $18 million in funding to combat the disease.
On the weekend, the World Health Organisation announced 4,033 people had died from 8,400 registered cases of Ebola in seven countries.
Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Michael Moore told Radio National Breakfast the Australian Medical Assistance Teams (AUSMAT) should be deployed, as well as troops and equipment.
“The contribution of the $18 million is fantastic but what we do know [is] that the NGOs [non-government organisations] on the ground just don’t have enough personnel,” he said.
“And about 10 to 20 per cent of Ebola patients are being cared for in treatment centres.
“The CDC [Centres for Disease Control and Prevention] in Atlanta tells us that we need about 70 per cent to be treated in treatment centres if we are to have any chance at all of preventing the escalation of this virus.”
The AUSMAT teams have doctors, nurses, paramedics, logisticians and allied health staff such as radiographers and pharmacists who can be sent at short notice to a disaster zone.
Mr Moore, who is also a former ACT health minister, said the AUSMAT team was successful in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
“They are extraordinarily well trained to deal with issues as widespread as the Philippines crisis, or this kind of spread of virus,” he said.
“This is the appropriate response along with having support from volunteers that they can manage, but you can’t do that without logistics support.”
Mr Moore said more effort should be made by Australian authorities to work with allies to provide hands-on assistance.
More professors of health are expected to sign the letter before it is sent to the Prime Minister later this week.
The United States has sent 3,000 troops to West Africa to help combat the spread of Ebola.