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Foreign Secretary & Minister for Armed Forces visit Sierra Leone

Foreign Secretary & Minister for Armed Forces visiting Sierra Leone to demonstrate continued support & commitment to defeating Ebola.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, and Minister for Armed Forces Mark Francois, are today (12 November 2014) visiting Sierra Leone to demonstrate the UK’s continued support and commitment to defeating Ebola and to see the challenges first hand.

Mr Hammond is visiting Port Loko to see the construction of one of the additional five 100-bed Ebola treatment centres being built and supported by the UK. The first UK-funded centre opened in Kerry Town last week. He will also meet President Koroma to demonstrate his support and encourage continued momentum in the fight against Ebola.

Mr Hammond and Mr Francois will both meet members of the British Armed Forces who are training Ebola workers in how to use personal protective equipment at the Ebola Training Academy. They will also visit the Western Area District Command and Control Centre located at the British Council, where they will meet UK and Sierra Leonean government staff working together alongside other members of the international community to respond to Ebola in the district.

Minister for the Armed Forces Mark Francois will also visit members of 22 Field Hospital, military medics who are staffing the UK-built facility within the Kerry Town Treatment Centre, dedicated to treatment of HMG personnel and International Healthcare Workers. He will also meet with Royal Engineers who are designing and supervising construction of all the Ebola treatment units.

Commenting ahead of the visit, Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, said:

The UK is leading the international effort to defeat Ebola in Sierra Leone. I shall be getting an update on our intervention and seeing how our support is making a difference when I meet members of our Armed Forces and health workers who have joined the fight to end Ebola.

Further information

Follow the Foreign Secretary on Twitter @PHammondMP

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Media enquiries

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Channel website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-international-development

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