MONROVIA, November 9 (LINA) – An amount of US$28.5 million has been raised by top African business leaders to establish an emergency fund to help countries hit by the Ebola outbreak.

The money was raised at a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and will be used to deploy about 1,000 health workers to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to international news reports at the weekend.

Speaking at the end of the Addis Ababa meeting, African Union chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said the resources would also go to a long term program to handle future Ebola outbreaks.

The emergency fund will be managed by the African Development Bank, one source said.

Of about 14,000 cases recorded mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, nearly5,000 people have died of the virus, according to World Health Organization (WHO) figures show.

The figures show Liberia accounts for the highest number of deaths at 2,766, followed by Sierra Leone with 1,130, Guinea at 1,054 and Nigeria with eight.

However, both WHO and Medecins Sans Frontieres have confirmed that Liberia in recent weeks has seen a drastic decline in the number of Ebola cases.

LINA PTK