FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — The British government and British charity Save the Children are under scrutiny for the management of an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone, the West African nation that has overtaken Liberia as the worst-affected country.

The epidemic is spreading in Sierra Leone at a pace that isn’t matched by containment efforts, Doctors Without Borders said on Dec. 2. Only 11 beds supplied by Britain were operational as of Nov. 27, the medical aid charity said. Save the Children said Monday that 40 beds are operational at its Kerry Town center, and the British government said it is funding almost 700 available beds, including those at diagnostic holding centers built by others.

Britain is facing mounting criticism in Sierra Leone from local media and government officials, while foreign aid workers have also voiced concern about Save the Children’s capabilities. Britain has been taking the lead in its former colony, with the U.S. focusing on Liberia and France concentrating on former colony Guinea.

An 80-bed treatment center managed by Save the Children opened Nov. 5 in Kerry Town as part of Britain’s $360 million commitment to supply and support treatment beds that will total more than 1,000, fund burial teams and provide other health services in Sierra Leone.

More than 2,000 new cases were reported in Sierra Leone over the previous three weeks, compared with about 800 in Liberia and 270 in Guinea, according to figures compiled by the World Health Organization.

“For Kerry Town, Save the Children do not have the expertise,” Paolo Conteh, chief executive officer of Sierra Leone’s National Ebola Response Center, told reporters last week. “That is something we must all accept and say we got it wrong or the Brits got it wrong in handing over that facility to Save the Children, which has never run an Ebola facility.”


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