Freetwon, Feb 10 (IANS): Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma is slated to attend an international Ebola conference organised by the European Union (EU) in March.

The invitation was formally handed to Koroma on Monday by the EU delegate to Sierra Leone Peter Veersteeg , Xinhua reported.

Koroma was also requested to chair the conference.

According to Veersteeg, the conference scheduled to be held in the Belgian capital of Brussels, will discuss the progress made in the fight against the Ebola virus together with the post Ebola challenges.

It will also assess the critical needs of the three Ebola ravaged countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

He said the conference will also be attended by the heads of state of Guinea and Liberia, and delegates from the UN and the African Union (AU).

The EU representative commended the president for his effort in fighting the disease, adding that "his resolve has significantly yielded tremendous gains so far".

So far, almost 9,000 people have died from the virus since December 2013.