Those combating Ebola in West Africa will soon be joined by 17 Australian health workers. Photo: AFP
The first contingent of Australian health workers will depart for West Africa on Friday to prepare to tackle Ebola in an Australian government-funded treatment centre.
The initial deployment of 17 Australians comprises six doctors, eight nurses and three environmental health officers.
They will work alongside about 200 Sierra Leonean staff in the British-built facility at Hastings airfield, near Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said this area had “a high and growing rate of Ebola transmission and a very high demand for treatment beds”.
“Australia will be saving lives,” she said.
The Abbott government has contracted private company Aspen Medical to operate the facility on Australia’s behalf at a cost of $20 million.
The centre is currently under construction by UK army engineers, and is expected to open by mid-December.
The 100-bed facility will open with a smaller number of beds and gradually scale up to capacity.
The facility will be staffed by about 230 people at a time, half of whom would be health workers while others would provide ancillary services such as security and catering.
The Australian health workers, who will spend Christmas caring for Ebola patients, all have extensive experience in disease control, and will undertake two weeks of comprehensive Ebola treatment training in Sierra Leone in accordance with World Health Organisation standards. This training will include pairing with experienced clinicians working with Ebola-infected patients at a Medecins Sans Frontieres treatment centre in the town of Bo.
They have undertaken preliminary training in Canberra this week, including on infection control and the use of personal protective equipment
The Australians will serve rotations of about six weeks, including two weeks of in-country training and four weeks in the treatment facility. They will be housed in serviced accommodation near the facility.
Any Australian health workers who contract the virus will be treated at a hospital for international responders operated by the UK Ministry of Defence in nearby Kerry Town and the workers will undergo a three-week period of “active monitoring” on their return to Australia.
Aspen received 400 expressions of interest from Australians who wished to travel to West Africa, 200 of whom lodged formal applications.
The World Health Organisation says there have been 15,351 confirmed, probable or suspected cases of Ebola in the current outbreak, which has claimed at least 5459 lives.
The worst affected country is Liberia, with 7082 cases and 2963 deaths to date. Sierra Leone has recorded 6190 cases and 1267 deaths.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced three weeks ago that Australia would fund the operation of the facility, following weeks of pressure from Labor, the Greens, medical groups and aid agencies, and international requests for Australia to supplement its financial contribution with practical support.
For weeks the government had resisted these calls, citing the absence of arrangements to provide treatment to any Australian personnel who may contract the virus.