The first patients have been successfully discharged from an Australian-run Ebola treatment facility in Sierra Leone.
An 11-year-old girl, Aminata Bangura, was the first person to be released from the clinic with a clean bill of health. She was collected from the clinic by family members last week.
Before she left, Aminata placed her hand on a wall at the clinic set up to display the hand prints of Ebola survivors who have been treated there.
“Aminata is the first to have her hand print on the wall,” Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters in Perth on Tuesday.
Ms Bishop said Aminata had lost eight members of her family to Ebola.
Two other patients have since been discharged from the facility, at Hastings Airfield, near Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.
The clinic has admitted 37 patients since it opened in mid-December. Of these, eight have died and 26 are currently receiving treatment.
The facility was built by the British government and is being operated on Australia’s behalf by healthcare company Aspen Medical. It is being staffed by a mix of Sierra Leonean workers and 32 Australian and New Zealand health professionals. Four other Australians have already returned home after completing their deployments.
“I’m pleased that the treatment centre is under way, that it is making a difference, that we are saving lives,” Ms Bishop said.
Australia’s total contribution to the Ebola response stands at $45 million, including $23 million to manage and staff the Sierra Leone facility.
Globally, there have been more than 20,000 cases of Ebola in the current outbreak, and almost 8000 deaths, most in the west African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.