Ebola funds needed 'as a matter of urgency,' UN says

A nearly $1-billion US United Nations trust fund to fight the worst Ebola outbreak on record now is still less than half-way to its goal, prompting the UN to say that more is urgently needed.

On Tuesday, the United Nations Financial Tracking Service said $410 million US had been committed to Ebola response efforts, while another $225 million US in non-binding pledges had been made but have yet to be confirmed.

The confirmed pledges amount to more than 41 per cent of the $988 million US that the UN called for in September for an immediate humanitarian response to the Ebola crisis, a spokeswoman for the tracking service said in an email.

In September, the UN Secretary General’s Ebola Multi-Partner Trust Fund called for $988 million US to control the spread of the Ebola virus over the next six months. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are the worst affected countries with more than 4,500 deaths in 10 months.

"Much more is needed," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday. "The secretary general urges all countries that have contributed to consider what more they can do, and those who have yet to contribute to do so as a matter of urgency."

The federal government has committed $65 million in Ebola aid.

The Financial Tracking Service’s data shows Canada has given nearly $4.3 million US so far, which falls behind Korea, Kuwait and Venezuela on the international list of donors.

"Of the $65 million, $57,985 has been committed to specific programming and $4.985 million has been disbursed as of Oct. 17," a spokesman for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada said in an email.

'No supplies'

On Monday, Anthony Twyman, an infectious control practitioner at Toronto Western Hospital, returned from teaching health-care workers in Conakry, Guinea, how to protect themselves when treating Ebola patients.

"It just kept being highlighted and highlighted again, there were no supplies at the front lines and that was one of the major issues," Twyman said. "Simple things like gloves, they were being rationed in some cases because there just wasn't enough."

Face masks, face shields, protective suits and gowns were also in short supply.

"That was a hard thing to actually go by and see when you're asking these people to do such a risky job but you're not giving them the supplies to be able to do it."

Two weeks ago, Canada shipped the first load of promised protective equipment — 120,000 face shields that were loaded on a military plane headed for Sierra Leone. Health Canada did not respond to questions from CBC News on Tuesday asking if there have been any further shipments of equipment and supplies since then.