A first "solidarity flight" of medical supplies from the World Health Organization (WHO) landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday for distribution in Africa, the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) said.

The 1 million masks, goggles, gloves, gowns and other protective gear for health workers, as well as ventilators for patients, will be flown on later in the day to 5 African countries - Djibouti, Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia and Tanzania.

"From those five hubs they will be dispatched in as many countries as possible," WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told a U.N. briefing in Geneva. The supplies are enough to protect health workers while treating more than 30,000 patients across the continent, she added.