Organization prepares medical supplies for African communities affected by Ebola virus
Sep 30, 2014, 5:00 AM | Updated: 5:00 am
PHOENIX — Volunteers with Project C.U.R.E. will be spending Tuesday morning filling and preparing a 40-foot cargo container with much-needed medical supplies.
The supplies are heading for West African communities devastated by the Ebola virus, including Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and the Congo.
Eighteen months ago, Project C.U.R.E’s president and CEO visited a hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone, which is considered ground zero for the outbreak.
“It’s tragic. Those are people we committed ourselves to and promised we would help,” said Dr. Douglas Jackson.
Every healthcare worker of that facility has died from the deadly virus, he said.
“Had no idea that it was going to be a situation where they would put their lives on the line to help their neighbors, and that’s exactly what happened,” said Jackson. “It’s tragic. It’s a place where doctors and nurses regularly don’t have medical gloves, lab facilities for testing aren’t available.”
Project C.U.R.E. has already prepared and shipped almost $2 million in life-saving medical supplies and equipment to the countries devastated by the virus, but the effort continues and organizations like Project C.U.R.E. still need community support.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that up to 1.4 million people could be infected by January. More than 2,400 lives have already been lost to Ebola, with a fatality rate of up to 90 percent. Ebola has no approved vaccine or cure.