(VOVworld) – European Union leaders agreed Friday to boost aid to combat the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa to one billion euros, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said.

Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council of the EU (Photo: Monika Graff)

The EU decision came from a proposal by British Prime Minister David Cameron last week that aimed to raise EU members’ contributions to 1 billion euros to deal with Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

Earlier, the 28 EU member states and the European Commission have already pledged nearly 600 million euros to pay for medical staff and facilities in the worst affected countries—Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where some 4,900 people have died of the disease.

Prime Minister David Cameron pledged a further 80 million pounds, or about 128 million USD, to cope with disease, bringing the total money Britain donated up to 205 million pounds.