Office of the Premier
The B.C. Ministry of Health and health authorities throughout the province have responded to the request by Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose for provinces to donate medical equipment to help stop the spread of Ebola in West Africa by committing to send up to $3.5 million worth of protection and treatment equipment.
“We are fully committed to helping support Canadian efforts to assist West Africa in the fight against Ebola,” said Health Minister Terry Lake. “While British Columbians can have confidence in our countries’ medical system and ability to prevent the spread of harmful virus’ like Ebola, other countries are not as fortunate. The donation of these supplies will enable health-care workers on the front lines to safely and effectively manage the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.”
The Ebola virus does not spread easily from person to person or through casual contact but is spread through direct contact with infected body fluids such as blood, sweat, saliva, vomit, urine or faeces.
Health Authorities throughout B.C. came forward with protective and treatment equipment. Equipment includes respirator masks, face shields, gloves and gowns to help reduce the risks of coming into contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person as well equipment like syringes to help treat those who are infected.
“The response to Ebola has to be global,” said provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall. “Health-care workers working in West Africa require all of our support to ensure that they can safely care for those that have become infected in order to effectively control the spread of this virus.”
To date, Canada has committed to providing over $35 million in support of humanitarian, security and public-health interventions to help prevent the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa. Work is in currently in progress to centralize supplies and ship them to West Africa as soon as possible with guidance from the World Health Organization on what items are most urgently required.
Learn more:
To learn more about the Canada’s role in the global response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, please visit: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/id-mi/vhf-fvh/ebola-eng.php
Media Contacts:
Media Line
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887
