Football fans and the British public will be urged to help protect children in danger from the deadliest ever Ebola outbreak in an emergency television appeal to be aired during Tuesday's England v Scotland international.
England captain Wayne Rooney, Scottish manager Gordon Strachan and Scottish midfielder Darren Fletcher will call for donations to Unicef's Emergency Ebola Appeal. The UK Government will match pound for pound all public donations, up to £5 million, made during the game.
The number of people who have been killed by Ebola has now hit 5,000 and over 13,000 are infected across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. One in five of these patients are children and around 7,000 more children have lost one or both of their parents to the disease. Schools and health facilities for pregnant women are closing and vital vaccination programmes for children are halting because of the emergency.
Rooney said: "Right now, children are in danger from Ebola and they need our help. As a dad, I can't imagine what it's like for your child to be at risk of this deadly disease. Tune into the game to see two footballing nations come together to help protect children and their families and find out how you can help too."
Fletcher said: "Scotland v England is always an important match, but for once the game is about far more than just football. On Tuesday night I urge all our fans to transfer their passion for the Scottish football team into helping these children so we can really make a difference to their lives."
Prime Minister David Cameron hoped the funding from this football fundraiser would help "make a real difference to the families and children living under the threat of the disease."
Unicef is working across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to try and control the disease, provide life-saving supplies to treat and protect affected children and to support grieving relatives and friends.
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