JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israeli government will send three mobile emergency clinics to western Africa in an effort to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.
Medical experts will be attached to each clinic sent by Mashav-Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, a part of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The staffers will train local health care workers in the operation of the clinic and its equipment, the ministry said in a statement.
In addition, staff training will focus on raising awareness among populations with high potential for infection.
An Israeli team has already been sent to Cameroon. The ministry also sent emergency equipment to the government of Sierra Leone, and in recent weeks shipped personal protection equipment to teams of the African Union.
Last week, the Israeli government reportedly denied a U.S. request to assist in medical relief in Ebola-stricken West African countries.
Meanwhile, the Israeli nongovernmental organization IsraAid met this week with the first lady of Sierra Leone and is in discussions with authorities there about how to provide psychological and social counseling and increase local health awareness.
IsraAid founder Shachar Zahavi told JTA that his organization is also in the process of recruiting medical personnel to join those treating the affected areas in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
In the coming months, IsraAid plans to send over 30 experts in post-traumatic stress disorder prevention and stress management to West Africa to train local social workers and health workers.
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