Nearly $1 Billion in Ebola Aid in Limbo
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Fuse/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The Ebola outbreak linked to several countries in Western Africa was one of the biggest health concerns of 2014, and the international community pledged billions of dollars in efforts to fight it.
Now, according to tracking data from the United Nations published in The BMJ, while the pledges during the outbreak totaled $2.89 billion, only two-thirds of that, $1.9 billion, actually reached those who needed it.
In other words, one out of every three dollars pledged has not yet made it to affected countries.
Authors of this new report say the problem is not getting the money, but rather dispensing it.
The data shows that a more rapid distribution of funds is needed in cases such as the Ebola outbreak, and will hopefully prepare the world for future epidemic relief efforts.
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