The emergency appropriations request includes $4.64 billion for “immediate needs” and an additional $1.54 billion in contingency funding, similar to the structure used in 2009 during the H1N1 flu pandemic emergency appropriations.
More specifically, the money will be used to do the following, according to a White House statement:
- Fortify U.S. public health and healthcare systems
- Contain the Ebola epidemic in West Africa
- Speed the development of Ebola vaccines and therapeutics
- Help vulnerable countries respond to outbreaks before they become epidemics that threaten America’s national security
HHS will receive $2.43 billion to fund preparedness and response capabilities, the U.S. Agency for International Development will receive $1.98 billion to increase foreign assistance, and the Departments of State and Defense will also receive money to support medical air transport and evacuation capacity and speed the development of vaccine technologies.
The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa has claimed the lives of 4,808 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as of Nov. 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Find more information on what the U.S. has been doing in response to the Ebola epidemic here.
More articles on Ebola:
How do individual states’ Ebola quarantine protocols compare?
9 statistics on healthcare professionals’ Ebola readiness
WHO updates Ebola PPE guidelines
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