The School of Public Health at Georgia State University has partnered with international nonprofit MAP International to send protective suits to health care workers fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

More than 100 students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the School have made donations, allowing Georgia-based MAP International to purchase 250 personal protective equipment suits, also referred to as PPEs, to the hardest-hit countries. Though the school met its target of raising enough funds for 250 PPEs, the fundraising effort is ongoing.

“The faculty, staff, and students at the School of Public Health feel that it’s important to help those on the front lines of the fight to contain the Ebola outbreak in West Africa,” says Dr. Michael Eriksen, dean of the School of Public Health.

“Too often, these brave doctors, nurses, and community health workers do not have the kind of protective gear that we take for granted in U.S. hospitals and clinics. This public health crisis has claimed the lives of too many of our colleagues in West Africa, in many cases due to a lack of protective gear. It’s tragic when you realize that a protective suit only costs about $15.”

According to the World Health Organization, 348 health care workers had been infected with Ebola as of Sept. 22, and 186 of them had died. The loss of so many health care workers has been cited as an important factor in the continued spread of Ebola.

MAP’s CEO, Steve Stirling, says that “MAP hopes that other Schools of Public Health and the general public will be inspired by this fundraising effort and donate to help us send more PPE’s and other badly-needed supplies to support health care workers in West Africa.”

For more information about this effort to send PPEs to Africa, go to: https://www.causes.com/stopebola