India among top 5 financial contributors to Ebola response

Washington, Oct 9: India is among the top five contributors to the UN Ebola response with a contribution of USD 12.5 million, according to a fact sheet released by US Secretary of State John Kerry here.

The US with USD 113.8 million tops the list to the UN Ebola response. It is followed by the European Union (USD 55.5 million), Canada (USD 31.9 million), Netherlands (21 million) and India with USD 12.5 million.

At a joint news conference with British counterpart Philip Hammond, Kerry lamented that many nations have contributed to this global effort to fight the deadly disease.

The UN has identified USD1 billion in urgent needs, he said. "The World Bank has put in 22 per cent. The USA has put in 11 per cent. Private sector, 10 per cent," he said. The fact sheet presented by him showed that India has contributed a little over one percent, to this.

"The fact is more countries can and must step up in order to make their contributions felt, and this chart tells the story. Those are not enough countries to make the difference to be able to deal with this crisis," he said in his presentation.

The UN, he said, is falling short of USD300 million. Experts say Ebola is transmitted by close contact with the bodily fluids of a person who is showing symptoms of infection such as fever, aches, vomiting and diarrhea, or who has recently died of the hemorrhagic virus.

The world's largest outbreak of Ebola has killed 3,865 people out of 8,033 infected so far this year, according to the WHO's latest count.

PTI