(MENAFN- QNA) US President Barack Obama will announce Tuesday that the US military will take the lead in overseeing what has been a chaotic and widely criticized response to the worst Ebola outbreak in history, dispatching up to 3,000 military personnel to West Africa in an effort that could cost up to $750 million over the next six months, according to senior administration officials.
By the end of the week, a general sent by US Africa Command will be in place in Monrovia, Liberia the country where transmission rates are increasing exponentially to lead the effort called Operation United Assistance. The command will help oversee and coordinate US and international relief efforts while a new, separate regional staging base will help accelerate transportation of urgently needed equipment, supplies and personnel, according to US newspaper (The Washington Post).
In addition, the Pentagon will send engineers to set up 17 treatment centers in Liberia each with a 100-bed capacity as well as medical personnel to train up to 500 health-care workers a week in the region, the paper said.
Obama's decision to enlist the US military, whose resources are already under strain as it responds to conflicts in the Middle East, reflects the growing concern of US officials that, unless greater force is brought to bear, the epidemic could wreak havoc on the continent.
"It's this broad range of capabilities together that will turn the tide of this epidemic," said one senior administration official, who along with others spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Global health experts and international aid groups who have been urging the White House to dramatically scale up its response praised the plan as described. They have said charities and West African governments alone do not have the capacity to stem the epidemic, according to the paper.
The US military, with its enormous logistical capability, extensive air operations, and highly skilled medical corps, could address gaps in the response quickly.
Although the official death toll is at least 2,400 people in five African countries, officials say it vastly underestimates the true caseload.
A senior US official cautioned that the efforts "won't happen overnight." It will be several weeks before training of health-care workers can be up and running.
Washington has come under fire from African officials especially in the hardest-hit countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea for not marshaling more of its resources to combat the epidemic.
The United States has already spent $175 million responding to the outbreak and has dispatched 100 CDC experts, among the largest deployments of agency personnel in its history.
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