PARIS, September 14 (RIA Novosti) - France has allocated about $11.6 million for the construction of the Paris branch of the Pasteur Institute and the Center for the Study and Treatment of Ebola in Guinea, Agence France-Presse reported, with reference to French government minister, Annick Girardin.
"France is here to tell our friends in Guinea that we will support them in their struggle with the plague that struck them, that we would stay with them," Girardin said at a press conference in Conakry.
The minister added that Guinea and other countries affected by the epidemic disease should not remain isolated.
"Nine million euros [about $11.6 million] have been allocated for the construction of the center for the study [of Ebola], as well as to support the Pasteur Institute, which is going to open an office there," Girardin said.
Girardin also said that France has donated 2 tons of medical supplies, including gloves, masks and antiseptic, to the hospital in Conakry to prevent disease infection. In addition, France has decided to send 25 experts to Guinea, five of them have already arrived there.
The Ebola death toll in West Africa has risen to more than 2,400 since the epidemic started in March, chief of the World Health Organization (WHO), Margaret Chan said Friday.
Cases have been registered in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal.
The Ebola virus mortality rate is currently at 53 percent. There is no officially approved medication for the disease, and experts claim prevention is the only cure. Several countries, including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan are currently working on vaccines.
