Urgent Call to Action as Ebola Spreads Rapidly in the Democratic Republic of Congo

New Delhi, July 30: Senior officials from the United Nations have urged the international community to intensify efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The spread of the virus is accelerating much faster than the response efforts.

Julien Harneis, the UN’s senior Ebola coordinator, and David Beasley, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), made this appeal during a virtual press briefing from Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, which is at the epicenter of the outbreak.

Harneis reported that in the past 24 hours, 50 people have died from Ebola in Congo, with cases doubling every 20 days. “This increase is significantly outpacing our response efforts, widening the gap between the pandemic and our interventions,” he stated.

Beasley emphasized that the current Ebola crisis in DRC is the fastest-growing outbreak recorded to date. He noted that in the last two months, 1,000 deaths have occurred, compared to 1,000 deaths over eight months during the West Africa outbreak.

According to reports from Xinhua News Agency, officials are calling for a substantial scale-up of response efforts. Beasley highlighted that ongoing conflicts in eastern DRC have left nearly 10 million people facing food insecurity or emergency situations. Ituri, the outbreak’s focal point, is one of the hardest-hit areas, with around 2 million people in need of food assistance.

“There is an urgent need to enhance response efforts, including increased funding, supplies, medical teams, and access to those in need,” Harneis stressed. He urged member states to keep their borders open to allow personnel dealing with Ebola to enter the country, ensuring supplies reach quickly and without obstruction, and enabling staff to return home.

UN officials also underscored the immediate need for funding. Harneis mentioned that the UN’s humanitarian assistance plan for DRC requires $2.1 billion, but only 45% of that amount has been funded. Beasley added that the WFP needs $76 million over the next six months to address the Ebola crisis, emphasizing that this funding solely covers logistics, not food supplies.

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