New Ebola outbreak places WHO in funding problems

The world Health Organization within the week declared it is facing a “serious funding gap” to battle the new outbreak of Ebola in remote corners of northern Congo as the global Covid-19 pandemic ravages as well.

The world Health body stated that the $1.75 million raised so far will only last for a few more weeks, adding that the response effort is particularly expensive because of how difficult it is to get health teams and supplies into the densely forested area.

Since the current outbreak was declared on June 1, there have been 24 deaths . The emergence of Ebola in Congo’s northern Equateur province came just as the world’s second deadliest Ebola outbreak was nearing its end.

According to Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, “The response to Ebola in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is complex, but we must not allow COVID-19 to distract us from tackling other urgent health threats,”.

The funding shortage threatens to unravel early gains in this epidemic. When Equateur province last had Ebola cases in 2018, it took health officials two weeks to start vaccinating people. This time around, vaccination teams were mobilized within four days of the outbreak declaration, Moeti said.

No licensed vaccine existed when Ebola killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa between 2014-2016. After Ebola cases emerged in eastern Congo in August 2018, health teams eventually were able to combat the disease with two different vaccines.

Misinformation still exist about those vaccines in a region long wracked by armed militias. Communities fearful of outsiders in some cases refused to allow health teams in, allowing the virus to spread.