THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Acting in response to the devastating Ebola outbreak in four West African nations, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday that it has pledged $50 million to help combat the epidemic.
The money will be made available to United Nations agencies and international organizations involved in the response effort. It will enable them and national governments to purchase "needed supplies and scale up emergency operations in affected countries," the foundation said in a news release.
The grant will also be used to develop therapies, vaccines, and diagnostic tests to treat patients and prevent further transmission of the often-fatal disease.
Much of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's focus is global health and development. Since its founding in 1997 by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, the foundation has given away $30 billion.
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