BRUSSELS, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) has allocated 24.4 million euros (30.9 million U.S. dollars) for urgently-needed Ebola research, announced the European Commission in a statement on Thursday.
The funding will go to five projects, ranging from a large-scale clinical trial of a potential vaccine to test existing and novel compounds to treat Ebola, said the Commission, or the European Union's executive body.
The money from Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation program, will be provided via a fast-track procedure in order to start work as soon as possible, according to the statement.
This announcement came as the World Health Organization (WHO) hosted a high level meeting in Geneva on the same day.
"With the WHO bringing the international community together in Geneva today, one of the most important messages is that we need to step up medical research on Ebola," said Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, the Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner of the EU.
