Paul Allen Gives $100M for Ebola

Microsoft co-founder also creates website for smaller donors
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 23, 2014 6:40 PM CDT
Paul Allen Gives $100M for Ebola
Paul Allen is donating $100 million toward the Ebola fight.   (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

The fight against Ebola is getting another hefty donation from a US billionaire: This time it's Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who today pledged $100 million, reports the Seattle Times. Allen also created a website called TackleEbola through which people can donate to specific projects, from hand-washing stations in West Africa to the creation of an 80-bed center for patients there.

“We’re up against an extremely tough opponent here,” Allen tells the New York Times. “The exponential nature of the growth of this disease is really a challenge—we’ve already seen in the US where one case quickly became two.” Some of Allen's money will go to the University of Massachusetts Medical School, which is underwriting the cost of training and medical equipment in Liberia. Allen also is creating a fund to help medical professionals who get sick cover their bills. (Fellow Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates donated $50 million via his foundation.)

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