LONDON: The Ebola crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has drawn about US$500mil in global pledges, as African leaders and international health officials warn the outbreak risks spreading across the continent.
The commitments, announced during a briefing of state officials on Monday, have more than doubled from the almost US$208mil secured as of May 23.
This is according to Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jean Kaseya.
Major contributions included US$160mil from the World Bank for Congo, US$82mil from the United States and about US$57mil from European partners.
Kaseya said the commitments had nearly closed the gap to the estimated US$519mil needed for the response, though he warned the funding requirement was likely to rise as the outbreak spreads and preparedness efforts expand.
As Ebola spreads through conflict-hit eastern Congo, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa warned the outbreak had become a serious threat to the continent.
He cited the risk of wider regional spread driven by insecurity, cross-border movement and fragile health systems.
“Health security is economic security,” Ramaphosa said Monday at the virtual briefing.
“It’s also development security and the security of our entire continent.”
Ramaphosa – also the African Union champion on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response – said the outbreak was unfolding in areas marked by “intense population movement, insecurity, porous borders, humanitarian pressure and active trade corridors”.
This makes rapid containment more difficult and increasing the urgency of a coordinated African response.
“We have already lost more than 200 people,” he said, calling for “speed, unity, solidarity and trust in our collective capacity.”
More than 900 suspected Ebola cases have been reported across 11 health zones in three eastern Congolese provinces, according to health ministry data released late Sunday.
Regional figures show suspected deaths reached 210 as of May 23.
Uganda reported two new cases on Monday, both health workers.
Ten African countries – including Kenya and Angola – are now considered at high risk for their own outbreaks because of known travel routes and porous border crossings, according to Kaseya.
“All other nations on the continent are at risk of importing cases because of regional mobility and gaps in surveillance and diagnostic capacity,” he added.
“The delay in detecting the outbreak means that we are now playing catch-up with a very fast-moving epidemic,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the briefing.
“We have stopped every previous Ebola outbreak and we will stop this one too.
“The question is just how quickly we can do it and how many more lives will be lost before we do.”
As many as one in three people in Ituri believe the virus isn’t real, according to ActionAid.
This is a charity group that started conducting information sessions to address misinformation.
“We are not just fighting a deadly virus, we are fighting myths, fear and deep-seated suspicion,” Saani Yakubu, the director of ActionAid DRC, said in a statement.
The crisis is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there are no approved vaccines or antibody treatments.
The WHO declared the epidemic a public-health emergency of international concern on May 17. — Bloomberg
