The United Nations has warned that an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is expanding faster than international efforts to contain.
Secretary-General António Guterres who disclosed this in a Press Briefing on Thursday urged governments and donors to provide additional $1.1 billion before emergency operations run out of money.
Calling the epidemic the “fastest-growing Ebola epidemic on record,” Guterres said the outbreak had become the largest in the DRC’s history.
As of Aug. 25, 5,713 cases had been confirmed and 2,744 people had died, according to figures cited in his press
encounter.
Approximately 500 new cases are being reported each week, he said, with women and children among those particularly affected. “It is growing faster and wider than the response to contain it. But it can be stopped,” Guterres said.
The secretary-general said the crisis is unfolding in one of the world’s most fragile environments, where prolonged conflict, displacement and weak infrastructure are complicating the public-health response.
Three decades of conflict in Ituri province have displaced an estimated one million people and severely restricted access to food, health care and other essential services.
Across the wider region, more than 12 million people require humanitarian assistance and protection.
A crisis compounded by conflict and insecurity
Health systems are under severe strain, while poor roads and insecurity are making it difficult for response teams to reach affected communities.
Frontline workers face the dual dangers of infection and violence: more than 40 health workers have died while trying to
save others, Guterres said, and treatment centres and ambulances have come under attack.
“Humanitarian personnel face both the threat of the virus and the threat of violence,” he said, adding that they deserve greater recognition and support.
Guterres identified indifference, alongside the virus itself, as a major obstacle to controlling the epidemic.
He said international attention, political engagement and financial resources
have not kept pace with conditions on the ground.
Five priorities for the response
The Congolese government is leading the response, with support from the United Nations, the World Health Organization and other partners.
The UN has appointed a senior Ebola
coordinator and is organizing its work around five priorities:
The UN is also reinforcing preparedness and coordination with South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
Guterres highlighted the role of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in mobilizing regional expertise and solidarity, particularly because the Congo River and busy transport routes connect large populations across national borders.
Funding shortfall threatens expansion
The United Nations has committed more than $80 million from pooled funds and is working with partner organizations to sustain the response.
It has appealed for $2.13 billion under
a humanitarian needs and response plan, but the plan is only 48% funded.
Guterres credited a major contribution from the United States for a significant share of the funding received so far. The money currently available, however, will last only weeks rather than months, he said.
Without new contributions, critical operations could lose funding just as they need to expand.
He appealed for the remaining $1.1 billion to fully finance the plan, while cautioning that additional resources may be required as the crisis develops.
“Time is not on our side,” he said, arguing that the international community has the knowledge, means and resources to stop the outbreak if it acts with urgency.
Flooding, Syria and melting glaciers
Guterres opened the press encounter by expressing condolences to victims of severe flooding in Nepal and China.
He said the United Nations was mobilizing supplies and humanitarian teams to support national emergency efforts.
In response to questions, he also welcomed the reported decision by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led organization, to dissolve and integrate into the Syrian government.
Guterres described the move as positive for consolidating Syria’s stability, unity and sovereignty, while stressing that the country’s diversity should be recognized as a strength.
He further warned that the retreat of Himalayan glaciers is creating potentially devastating long-term consequences.
Drawing on his visit to Nepal, he said climate change is contributing to the recession and weakening of glaciers, while noting that the immediate situation may also involve earthquake risks.
The effects, he said, would extend beyond mountain communities to major river valleys, including those of the Indus, Brahmaputra and Ganges, and to low- lying coastal populations that could face displacement on a massive scale.
The secretary-general’s central message remained focused on Ebola: the outbreak can still be contained, but only if int’l attention and funding catch up with the emergency confronting communities in the DRC.
