Health experts have warned for months that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) could surpass the 2014-16 west Africa epidemic. This week, the DRC authorities confirmed that a grim milestone has been passed: at least 2,325 people have died from the virus, making it the deadliest of the country's 17 outbreaks and the fastest-growing in history, according to The Guardian.
Deadly Strain and Armed Conflict Fuel the Crisis
No effective vaccine exists against the Bundibugyo strain, a rare form of the virus that spread fatally undetected during the spring. It was often misdiagnosed as malaria or typhoid. Unlike neighbouring Uganda, which eliminated an outbreak, multiple factors are combining to let the disease spread through the DRC. The worst-affected region is contested by armed groups, and population displacement and chronic insecurity have made monitoring and surveillance more difficult. Ebola treatment centres have been attacked due to misinformation and community distrust, the report states.
US and European Aid Cuts Compound the Emergency
The impact of these circumstances has been disastrously compounded by choices made in the west, particularly in the United States. International aid cuts have deprived the DRC of vital human and material resources. In 2014, as the Ebola crisis in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea escalated, Barack Obama addressed the United Nations General Assembly and mobilised a global response that was crucial in containing the outbreak. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) led efforts to train local health workers, pursue contact tracing, and implement a vaccination programme.
The contrast with the Trump administration is stark and shaming, according to The Guardian. Last year, Elon Musk, as the de facto head of the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency, was given licence to implement swingeing cuts that led to the dismantling of USAID. In the DRC, the direct consequence was the weakening of local health infrastructure and surveillance capacities, leaving one of the world's poorest countries more vulnerable. Also lost was a wealth of institutional experience and expertise gained in combating emergencies.
Global Community Urged to Mobilise
The US has further undermined the capacity for coordinated international action by withdrawing from the World Health Organization, to which it had been one of the biggest donors. European countries, notably Britain, Germany, and France, have also been viewing international aid as a luxury expenditure and cutting back. Last year, Sir Keir Starmer announced that from 2027 UK aid would be reduced from 0.5% of GDP to 0.3%.
Against this backdrop, the lack of diplomatic urgency over the current crisis, compared with 2014, should not come as a surprise. But that does not make it any less disappointing, The Guardian editorial argues. The west Africa Ebola outbreak laid bare the risk of regional and global disruption due to inadequate health infrastructure. A thousand pieties were uttered in the wake of the Covid pandemic regarding the need to invest in global health security and future preparedness. Subsequent actions by governments have belied those words, leaving the DRC exposed to an epidemic threatening to spiral out of control. Belatedly, the global community needs to mobilise to address the threat and draw the right lessons from a case study in why international aid matters.
