UN WARNS EBOLA RESPONSE LAGGING AS DRC DEATH TOLL NEARS 3,000
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The United Nations has warned that the global response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) must urgently outpace the virus as the death toll approaches 3,000.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said the outbreak was spreading faster than containment efforts despite a significant scale-up of response operations by humanitarian agencies and Congolese authorities.
“The response is growing and has been scaled up, but the virus is moving faster,” Fletcher said.
“And unless we scale up urgently, more lives will be lost and the threat will grow.”
DRC authorities had reported more than 6,100 confirmed cases and 2,950 deaths by Monday, with more than 5,000 infections recorded in Ituri Province alone.
The figures highlight the rapid spread of the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, which was declared in the DRC on May 15.
The current outbreak is spreading at a substantially faster rate than one of the deadliest Ebola emergencies recorded during the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials, making early detection, isolation and contact tracing critical to breaking chains of transmission.
Fletcher said containing the epidemic would require sustained political commitment, unrestricted humanitarian access and significantly increased international financing.
“We have the experience, the tools and extraordinary people risking their lives to stop this epidemic. What we need now is political will, access and resources,” he said.
The UN relief chief urged governments to ensure humanitarian workers can reach affected communities, particularly in areas where insecurity and weak infrastructure are complicating response efforts.
He also called on the international community to keep Ebola high on the global agenda to prevent further spread of the virus across borders.
A funding shortfall of about $1.1 billion remains, limiting the ability of humanitarian agencies to expand surveillance, treatment, community mobilisation and cross-border preparedness.
Fletcher said his agency had allocated more than $57 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to support response and preparedness efforts in the DRC and neighbouring countries.
He said closing the funding gap and stopping further spread would ultimately depend on governments and international partners matching existing technical capacity with political commitment and adequate resources.
The UN maintains that the tools required to contain Ebola are already available but warns that delayed financing, restricted humanitarian access and insufficient coordination could allow transmission to outpace response efforts.
The World Health Organisation recently declared Uganda’s latest Ebola outbreak over following rapid detection, contact tracing, isolation, clinical care, infection prevention measures and strengthened surveillance.
“We have beaten Ebola before, and we can do it again,” Fletcher said.
Meanwhile, the UN International Organization for Migration has conducted nearly 23 million health screenings in the DRC and neighbouring countries as part of efforts to limit cross-border transmission.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the screenings were helping authorities monitor population movements, identify possible cases and reduce the risk of the virus spreading across borders.
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