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Mark Zuckerberg donates $32 million to Ebola fight

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Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday he and his wife were donating US$25 million (S$32m) to help US efforts to contain the deadly Ebola epidemic.

In a post on his Facebook page, Mr Zuckerberg said: "The Ebola epidemic is at a critical turning point. It has infected 8,400 people so far, but it is spreading very quickly and projections suggest it could infect one million people or more over the next several months if not addressed."

"We need to get Ebola under control in the near term so that it doesn’t spread further and become a long term global health crisis that we end up fighting for decades at large scale, like HIV or polio."

He said he and his wife Priscilla were donating the funds to the CDC Foundation, a non-profit organisation which connects the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with private-sector organisations and individuals.

"We believe our grant is the quickest way to empower the CDC and the experts in this field to prevent this outcome," Mr Zuckerberg said.

The Ebola virus has already killed more than 4,000 people, most in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Under-funded health systems in west Africa have been crippled by the disease, which has spiralled out of control and infected 7,400 people since the beginning of the year.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation last month pledged US$50 million to help boost the fight against the Ebola outbreak, providing the funds to UN agencies and international organisations involved in the outbreak.

Source: AFP


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