Israel Aid Group Joins Ebola Fight
Help Needed: African health workers raise awareness about the danger of the deadly Ebola virus. Image by getty images
The Israeli nongovernmental relief organization IsraAID is sending medical professionals to Sierra Leone to help patients who have tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus.
The first Israeli professionals will arrive in the African nation this week, IsraAID said in a statement.
During the first phase, the IsraAid team will provide psycho-social support training to local social workers and community organizations struggling to cope with the stress and anxiety of families affected by the Ebola outbreak.
IsraAID also will be working with local government and health providers to increase their service delivery skills and raise awareness of the importance of hygiene and health to prevent the further spread of Ebola.
In the weeks leading up to the mission, supported by the American Jewish Committee and private family foundations, IsraAID has been in discussions with government officials in Sierra Leone and Liberia, as well as with the United Nations and the international medical relief teams, to better understand what is needed, the organization said.
At least 4,000 reported cases of Ebola have been reported in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Some 2,600 people have died of the virus in recent weeks.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
