Embassy of the United States of America
Public Affairs Office
Freetown November 28, 2014
Contact: Hollyn Green
Tel: 076 515 000
CDC Foundation Donates Critical Transportation to Fight Ebola
FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE – Ambassador John Hoover handed over 24 multi-purpose
vehicles and 29 motorbikes to the National Emergency Response Center’s Chief Operating
Officer, Stephen Gaojia on behalf of the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC)
Foundation on November 28.
The vehicles will assist with critical transportation needs to
combat the Ebola epidemic. The vehicles were provided by the CDC Foundation through a
donation by Mark Zuckerberg – Founder of Facebook – along with his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan.
The cost of the vehicles and airlift expenses to Sierra Leone was $1.6 million.
Dr. Oliver Morgan, Acting Country Director for CDC Sierra Leone states that “These vehicles
will help maintain a critical function for the Sierra Leone Ebola outbreak response, which
includes fulfilling transportation needs for laboratory specimen transport, case investigation,
and surveillance.”
Since the outbreak began in March, the CDC Foundation has raised more than $44 million to
support a range of real-time, on-the-ground needs identified by CDC and its public health
partners in West Africa. The Foundation, through gifts from generous donors, is providing
funding for the development of ongoing emergency operations centers in countries hardest hit by
the outbreak – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The CDC Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization established by the U.S. Congress
in 1995. The Foundation’s mission is to connect the CDC with private-sector organizations and
individuals to build life-saving health programs around the world. For more information, please
visit http://www.cdcfoundation.org/
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