Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to assist people affected by the Ebola outbbreak.

The Ministry of Defence supports the Department for International Development led effort in Sierra Leone. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence, has just returned from Sierra Leone where he has seen for himself the great work being undertaken by the Ministry of Defence to assist those affected by the outbreak.

We have deployed around 1,200 personnel over the last six months which represents our largest current overseas deployment and the second largest contribution to the fight against Ebola after the US.

We have overseen the construction of six Treatment Centres to deliver specialist care to Ebola patients, one of which – Kerrytown – includes a specialist unit staffed and managed by UK military personnel; we have constructed an Ebola Training Academy and trained over 4,000 local nationals in a variety of Ebola related roles; we have deployed the extremely capable RFA ARGUS and its three Merlin helicopters to increase our logistical capability; and we have engaged widely with our international partners to ensure the response in West Africa is – as it should be – a global effort.