Food assistance reaches to over 430,000 people affected by Ebola: WFP

GENEVA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) — The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) on Friday said it has provided food assistance to more than 430,000 people affected by the unprecedented Ebola crisis in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In support of a unified response under the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, WFP said it is ramping up its contribution to the humanitarian effort.

“We’re delivering food, logistic support, planes, helicopters, ships and building treatment centers,” WFP’s regional director for West Africa Denise Brown said in a statement.

WFP noted that food distribution was ongoing in all three countries, in both urban and rural areas, often house-to-house, one family at a time, with more food on the way.

The UN Humanitarian Response Depot, managed by WFP, so far dispatched 224 metric tons, worth 1.9 million U.S. dollars, of protective gear, emergency health kits and equipment to the region.

Meanwhile, WFP is providing logistics support to help medical services to treat and prevent the spread of the virus.

According to the World Health Organization, the total number of cases attributed to Ebola virus disease in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal has reached 7,178, including 3,338 deaths.