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Australia to staff Ebola clinic

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has confirmed the Australian Government will help staff an Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone.

Mr Abbott said the government was committing up to $20 million to the 100-bed treatment centre, which was being built by the United Kingdom.

He said the government would not deploy health workers but would contract private Australian company Aspen to staff the centre.

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Mr Abbott said the UK had agreed to treat any Australian working in the region.

“We have been particularly concerned that any Australian personnel going to West Africa should be able to access appropriate treatment and evacuation procedures,” Mr Abbott said.

“In the past few days we have had assurances from the United Kingdom that they would treat any Australian who is working in the Ebola-impacted parts of West Africa as though he or she were a citizen of the United Kingdom.”

Mr Abbott said he expected 240 staff would be needed to staff the centre and most would be locally engaged.

“There will be some international staff and some of those are likely to include Australian-paid volunteers,” he said.

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Health workers don protective suits in west Africa. Photo: Getty

He said he expected Aspen would have staff on the ground in Sierra Leone within days.

“My hope is that this treatment centre will be operational by the end of the month,” he said.

Mr Abbott said the government was also ramping up efforts to prevent a domestic outbreak of Ebola.

“The last thing anyone would want to do is to have personnel going to Africa, coming back to Australia and acting as carriers for this horrible disease,” he said.

“I think the Australian people expect our priorities to be prevention at home, preparedness in the region, and work in the wider world and that’s what we are doing as part of our campaign, to be the very best possible international citizen.”

He said any Australian who contracted Ebola would be treated in Europe or Sierra Leone.

“My understanding is that if they are in the very early stages of infection it is possible to medivac them back to the United Kingdom or Europe,” he said.

“If they’re in later stages of the infection they would be best treated on the spot because it’s very difficult to move very sick patients.”

Aspen said it would be responsible for all services provided in the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU).

“Aspen Medical already has a presence in North West Africa where it has been running a clinic in Liberia for several months,” the company said in a statement.

“Aspen Medical is also known for its healthcare service to the Australian Government in the Solomon Islands and the emergency surgery it conducted to save the life of president Ramos Horta after an attempted assassination in Timor Leste.”

Aspen’s managing director Glenn Keys said more than 130 Australians have already applied to volunteer in Sierra Leone.

“The numbers of staff that could be required by the Australians over time, we’re a little unsure of that because we’re still liaising with the Sierra Leone government and the British government as well as DFAT over those numbers, but it will be quite a significant number,” he said.

Shorten says government taking up Labor’s advice

The Opposition has repeatedly accused the government of not doing enough to respond to the crisis.

It welcomed Wednesday’s announcement but said it was surprised the government would not be facilitating the travel of Australians who do not work for Aspen but want to go to West Africa to help with the crisis.

“The government is moving to try and take up Labor’s advice and the advice of the AMA … to join an international coalition to tackle Ebola,” Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said.

“It is long overdue for the government to ensure that it can put in place propositions which will allow our skilled and capable volunteers to be able to assist to defeat this deadly disease at the source.”

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Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Photo: Getty

Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Brian Owler also welcomed the announcement, but said there were other options the government should consider.

“We do actually have quite a number of people that would be able to go and do this work,” he said.

“It is unclear how many Australians will be involved in the treatment facility in West Africa.

“We know that there are people in the AUSMAT teams [Australian Medical Assistance Teams] that have done work in places like the Philippines who are prepared and ready for deployment and who would volunteer and go and do this work.

“So there are pre-existing facilities and personnel that we can actually use for treatment in West Africa.”

He said it was important the people staffing the Aspen facility have the appropriate training.

“I think we need to keep a close eye on the training, the safety of those healthcare workers, make sure it is effective, we’re not putting people in harm’s way and that we bring everyone home safely.”

Almost 5000 people have died, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, in the worst epidemic of Ebola since it was identified in 1976.

There have been no confirmed cases of Ebola in Australia, however a number of people have been tested after returning from West Africa.

Four people have been tested for Ebola in Western Australia, a parliamentary committee hearing has heard.

They all tested negative.

-ABC

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