Facebook now allows users across the globe to send donations to help in the fight against the Ebola virus, following the launch of a new donate feature on its news feed.
The Ebola button that will be available on profile pages for users will allow people to donate money directly to major charities working with the Ebola hit countries, including International Medical Corps, International Federation of Red Cross and Save The Children.
“Over the next week, people on Facebook will see a message at the top of News Feed with an option to donate to the non-profits doing important work on the ground in West Africa,” said Facebook in a post.
In addition, Facebook is collaborating with UNICEF to provide information related to the virus on the social network platform to neighbouring countries as well as provide important communications capacity to medical aids in the countries.
The messages will be from UNICEF and will appear in users’ news feed in whatever language the user has set as default, focusing on Ebola detection, prevention and treatment.
Being that the most affected areas are remote and lack infrastructure to support communication and information access in the regions, Facebook is donating 100 mobile satellite communication terminals to be deployed across Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
The terminals dubbed Broadband Global Area Network devices are designed use satellite to communicate and provide mobile broadband and telephony services.
Through the terminals, Facebook aims to provide internet connectivity to aid medical workers in tracking cases of the virus and coordinate their response.
Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has personally donated 25 Million Dollars in the ongoing fight against Ebola.
