Microsoft Cofounder Paul Allen Pledges $100 Million in Fight Against Ebola
Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen is ramping up his commitment in the fight against Ebola.
The billionaire philanthropist announced Thursday that he is pledging to donate “at least” $100 million towards medical supplies, healthcare training and safe evacuation of humanitarian aid workers in West Africa, where the virus has now killed nearly 5,000 people, according to a recent report from the World Health Organization.
Allen’s pledge marks one of the largest private donations yet in the Ebola relief effort and includes the $26.5 million he has already donated to organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Red Cross.
Paul Allen, Microsoft cofounder, smiles as he listens to other speakers during the dedication of the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2003.
Image: John Froschauer/Associated Press
“The Ebola virus is unlike any health crisis we have ever experienced and needs a response unlike anything we have ever seen,” Allen said in a statement.
I’m committing at least $100M to #TackleEbola. Join me in helping those responding to this outbreak at http://t.co/6Nd1JWfPEF
— Paul Allen (@PaulGAllen) October 23, 2014
The money will go towards projects including containment units for the U.S. State Department and WHO to evacuate medical professionals and a partnership with the University of Massachusetts medical school to provide medical supplies and training for relief efforts in Liberia.
Michael F. Collins, chancellor of the University of Massachusetts medical school, said Allen’s support would “allow us to specifically work with our strategic partners and our Liberian colleagues to help stem the Ebola epidemic and strengthen Liberia’s fragile health care system.”
Allen has also created a website called #tackleebola where donors can give to an Ebola relief cause of their choosing in increments between $20 and $20,000.
According to a World Health Organization report released this week, the death toll of the Ebola outbreak has reached a total of 4,877 deaths with 9,936 documented cases. The actual toll, however, is likely much higher due to chronic undercounting in countries like Liberia, where the shortage of Ebola wards is leading many patients to be treated at home. The report said 1,000 new cases have been reported in the past week alone in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
Allen’s pledge far surpasses the amount of money that has been raised by a United Nations fund to fight Ebola set up by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which last week totaled only $100,000. As of last week, the amount of money donated to humanitarian assistance in the region was $548 million, but the secretary-general has said that $1 billion would be needed to effectively combat the virus.
World leaders such as former UN head Kofi Annan have been critical of the collective global response to the deadly disease’s spread. Annan told the BBC last week that he was “bitterly disappointed” with the international response to the outbreak.
Kofi Annan: We took our eyes of the ball on #Ebola and are scrambling to catch up. @BBCNewsnight
— Bijan Farnoudi (@Bijan77) October 16, 2014
Other high-profile private donations to the Ebola relief effort have include Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s $25 million pledge to the CDC and a promise of $50 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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