Today President Obama is set to announce his plan for helping the Ebola crisis in West Africa. He will deliver the speech from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.
According to The New York Times, the U.S. originally planned to send a mobile 25-bed hospital to Liberia, one of the countries struggling to combat the rapidly spreading disease. Due to the increasing severity of the situation, however, it appears much greater action will be taken.
The U.S. Agency for International Development reported that $100 million has already been devoted to fighting the disease, according to CNN. Obama will also ask Congress for an extra $88 million. These funds will be used to construct facilities to treat as many as 1,700 Ebola patients. The New York Times reported that the U.S. will also send 400,000 household medical kits to Liberia. These will contain items for disease prevention such as medicine, masks and gloves.
CNN noted that the U.S. also hopes to be instrumental in launching public health campaigns in areas where lack of information has caused the highly contagious disease to disperse quickly.
Obama will also announce his plans to send U.S. military and medical personnel to the affected region.
The New York Times reported that 3,000 troops will be sent to Liberia. The military will help with the construction of the new health centers, as well as with the training of medical workers. In order to handle the magnitude of the crisis, there are plans to train 500 workers per week.
According to CNN, Ebola has been responsible for an estimated 2,500 deaths already. While it is currently not seen as a threat to the health of Americans, Washington has declared the outbreak an issue of national security.