LONDON: Band Aid 30’s reworked version of “Do They Know it’s Christmas,” a song intended to raise money to fight the spread of Ebola in Africa, went straight to the top of Britain’s single charts on Sunday, the Official Charts Company said.

The track was inspired by a celebrity song of the same name with different lyrics which was recorded in 1984 and raised millions of pounds to fight famine in Africa. Bob Geldof, former lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, helped mastermind the track, as he did the original.

The new song, which sold over 200,000 copies in the last week to become the fastest-selling single of the year, has drawn criticism from some Africans and other recording artists who say it is patronizing and perpetuates unhelpful myths about the continent’s problems.