China announced its plans to deploy 1,000 medical staff and public health experts to West Africa and other countries afflicted by the deadly Ebola virus to help combat the outbreak.

The country's National Health and Family Planning Commission issued the said announcement on Wednesday. The move comes in the wake of heavy criticism that Beijing has not been doing enough to participate in the world's battle against the deadly Ebola crisis, according to Al Jazeera.

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"In the months to come, more than 1,000 medical workers and public health experts will be sent by China to assist in the battle against Ebola in West African countries," China's state-run Xinhua news firm quoted the health organization as saying.

China, Africa's largest economic partner, has already deployed 252people to three of the worst-hit countries in the continent - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Cuba has also sent a team composed of 165 physicians and nurses to Sierra Leone and is now planning to deploy another 296 to the other two Ebola-hit countries.

George Gao of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention operates a mobile testing laboratory in Sierra Leone's capital. His team runs between 40 and 60 blood tests daily to diagnose Ebola in live patients and determine if a corpse has been infected with the virus, according to China Digital Times.

Additionally, China's Foreign Ministry on Friday announced the deployment of a special People's Liberation Army unit to Liberia, where the deadly virus has claimed 4,951 lives out of the 13,567 who contracted the disease in eight nations, the report detailed.

The World Health Organization said the global fight against the Ebola outbreak required 4,500 more health workers. Sadly, over 500 health workers have become infected with the virus and only half of them have survived the disease.

Health workers attending to patients infected by the Ebola virus are the ones more vulnerable to the deadly disease, the report added.

TagsWest Africa, China Ebola efforts, health workers, what is ebola, Ebola outbreak