Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made an impassioned appeal for modern health care in the Ebola-stricken countries of West Africa and told The Associated Press afterward that he hopes to keep working for the foundation he launched regardless of what happens politically with his wife, Hillary.

Clinton, whose wife is the leading Democratic presidential contender, called the Ebola epidemic in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea “a man-made disaster” caused by their poor health facilities.

He told a U.N. conference Thursday that he visited Liberia earlier this month where his foundation has worked during the Ebola crisis.

Clinton urged donor governments and organizations to earmark 15 percent of their aid money over the next six or seven years to build health systems not only in Ebola-hit countries but across Africa.

(AP)