WHO unveils $518 million Ebola plan for DRC

New Delhi : Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), on Sunday highlighted the need for strong political commitment, sustained financing, and community engagement to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In a post on X, the WHO Chief wrote, “Containing #Ebola depends on political commitment, sustained financing, and the trust and engagement of communities. @AfricaCDC and @WHO have launched a Continental Preparedness and Response Plan that is estimated at US$518 million for June-November 2026, with partners including@UNICEF,@Refugees,@WFP,@ifrc and @FINDdx.” The WHO chief also shared that earlier this week he held a constructive meeting with President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi to discuss the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak.
“Earlier this week, I had a constructive meeting with #DRC President Felix Tshisekedi on the #Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus. I briefed him on my visit last weekend to Bunia, the hardest-hit province, and on our progress scaling up diagnostics and treatment, including an Ebola treatment center built by @WHO and handed over to health authorities,” he wrote on X. Both leaders agreed that controlling the outbreak depends on community mobilisation. We agreed: stopping this outbreak depends on communities. That means mobilizing local leaders and networks, ensuring safe and dignified burials, strengthening infection prevention, and helping people with symptoms seek care early, when it can save lives. Encouragingly, patients have already recovered and returned home, proof that early treatment works and a reminder of why we must reach every person who needs care. We also agreed that even as we fight Ebola, essential health and humanitarian services must not be neglected, and need the right attention. I praised DRC’s frontline health workers, whose dedication is extraordinary, and stressed that they must be properly supported to do their jobs. At this critical moment, the international community must back the DRC-led response with coordinated support and real resources. And it must not impose travel or trade measures that only hinder it. @WHO will stay the course until this outbreak ends, and we will use this emergency to build a stronger health system across the country,” the post added on X.
Ebola disease is a viral haemorrhagic fever caused by infection with the Bundibugyo virus strain of Ebola virus. It is a serious disease with a high mortality rate. At present, no vaccines or specific treatments have been approved to prevent or treat Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain.