Ebola Leaves Thousands of Children Orphaned And Isolated, Says Unicef

EBOLA SCREENING — A school official takes a pupil's temperature using an infrared digital laser thermometer in front of the school premises, at the resumption of private schools, in Lagos. Nigeria and Senegal, two of the five countries affected by the world's worst ever Ebola outbreak are managing to halt the spread of the disease, the World Health Organization said. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye Reuters

Besides the thousands of lives it has claimed, the deadly Ebola raging in West Africa has ended up orphaning more than 3700 children, many of whom are as young as three or four years old, says the Unicef in a statement.

Children were found alone in hospitals where their parents had died or back in their communities where, some were lucky to be fed by neighbours.

All other contact with them was being avoided, the UN children's organisation said while appealing for caretakers.

There was an urgent need to establish a system for identifying and caring for Ebola orphans, it added.

Unicef plans to hold a meeting on the issue in Sierra Leone next month but before that it is hoping that people will come forward, reports BBC.

Meanwhile, the condition continues to be bleak with treatment centres and personnel far below the required numbers.

With more than 3000 lives already claimed by the virus, the UN has said that the spread can be controlled if at least 70% of infected people receive treatment and 70% of burials are done safely within the next two months.

Britain is funding pilot triage clinics to help tackle the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone.

Britain Increases Aid

Officials said the clinics would test whether people with a fever have Ebola or malaria.

While Britain has said it would build facilities for 700 new beds in Sierra Leone, this is expected to take weeks or months.

More funds to the tune of £20m, in addition to the £100m already committed, will be used for providing medical supplies including chlorine, personal protection equipment such as masks, protection suits and gloves, and essential water and sanitation facilities.