• The €1m pledged to support 'Médecins Sans Frontières' efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak ravaging Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will be utilised immediately in light of the pressing need for additional resources.
  • A further €2.1m pledged by Inditex today will go towards renewing four collaboration agreements with MSF to support ongoing medical-humanitarian projects in India and Turkey and MSF's Emergency Relief Unit.

Inditex is contributing €1 million to 'Médecins Sans Frontières' ('MSF' for its acronym in French) emergency fund for fighting the deadly Ebola virus in western Africa.This aid, which will be injected immediately in light of the severity of the epidemic, was agreed today by the CEO of Inditex, Pablo Isla, and managing director of MSF in Spain, Joan Tubau, at Inditex's head offices in Arteixo (A Coruña).

Since March, MSF, which is leading the efforts to tackle the Ebola outbreak ravaging western Africa, has set up six centres (with over 611 beds) for treating patients in Ebola-stricken Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. However these treatment facilities haven been overwhelmed by the scale of the epidemic: according to WHO figures as of the end of October, there have been over 9,900 cases reported claiming the lives of more than 4,800 people. MSF has more than 3,200 professionals on the ground to battle the epidemic. This team has treated more than 4,900 patients, over 1,100 of them successfully. In light of the seriousness of the situation, MSF has called on the public to provide "exceptional support", noting that it  requires over 4,000 beds to attend to Ebola victims compared to the roughly 1,000 available, 60% of which are provided by MSF. Inditex's €1m contribution will be utilised by MSF immediately in its effort to tackle Ebola.

Inditex's further €2.1 million contribution
Inditex has also today pledged a further €2.1 million to MSF in support of four ongoing medical-humanitarian projects led by the aid organisation in India (€1m) and Turkey (€500,000) and the organisation's Emergency Relief Unit (€600,000).. These collaborative agreements fall under the scope of a master agreement signed by Inditex and MSF back in 2008, under which Inditex has contributed over €14 million to MSF's work in 26 countries and 19 emergency situations, bringing relief to more than 1.3 million people.

Projects in India
The €1m that Inditex has pledged to MSF projects in India are going towards two MSF programmes in the Northeastern state of Bihar. One programme is for combatting severe child malnutrition, which began in 2009. To date, over 13,000 children have received treatment with a 90% success rate. The second MSF programme that Inditex is supporting in Bihar is to fight visceral leishmaniasis (or kala azar), a disease transmitted by sand-flies which can be lethal if not treated in time. Since this project began in 2007, MSF has treated more than 11,000 patients with a success rate of over 98%.

Care for refugees
The €500,000 Inditex has pledged to MSF's work in Turkey is to fund medical and humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees in the Turkish province of Kilis. The province has become a temporary home to thousands of people fleeing Syria's armed conflict because of its proximity to the Syrian border. MSF's programme includes a primary healthcare and psychological counselling centre.

Emergency relief unit
Inditex has also renewed its support for MSF's Emergency Relief Unit, which it began supporting back in 2011, pledging a further €600,000 under a bi-annual programme. The emergency unit enables MSF to move people and materials anywhere in the world in under 48 hours to respond to humanitarian crises triggered by conflicts, natural disasters or epidemics. 

'Médecins Sans Frontières' (MSF) and Inditex
MSF is an international medical humanitarian organisation with a presence in over 70 countries with around 500 live projects underway. Its overriding mission is to assist populations in distress, victims of natural or man-made disasters and victims of armed conflict.

Inditex's partnership with MSF is part of the Group's broader social investment strategy which includes a series of community initiatives carried out in collaboration with a number of non-profit organisations with expertise in specific projects and regions. As part of this, in 2013, Inditex invested over €23 million in social initiatives which directly benefitted 750,000 people.

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