UK steps up fight against Ebola following outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo

The UK is backing the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) Regional Preparedness Plan to support nine countries at high risk of receiving cases of Ebola from their neighbor, the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC).

UK aid’s £1.5m of support will enable WHO to support countries with prevention, detection, and containment of Ebola and other deadly diseases. It will also help important work being done at the community level, such as working with traditional healers, health workers and religious leaders around issues including safe and dignified burials. This will lead to an increased number of referrals of those with symptoms in harder to reach areas.

This new funding will help stop the immediate spread of the current DRC outbreak as well as build longer-term resilience and follows significant support already committed by the International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt in May. To date, the UK response has helped to stabilise the outbreak, but the threat of it spreading to other countries remains.

“The UK continues to act decisively to stop this outbreak of Ebola, a horrific contagious disease which has the potential to cause devastating loss of life. By supporting the WHO’s Regional Preparedness Plan, UK aid will help to scale up preparedness to ensure sustainability. We are not just waiting for the next outbreak to come along, but are actively working in partnership around the world to strengthen health systems. This is keeping us all safe from current and future global health emergencies. The UK has the resources and know-how to help contain the spread of epidemics, but there is still work to do. Outbreaks are inevitable but epidemics are preventable,” said Harriett Baldwin Minister for Africa.

Original source: DFID
Published on 3 July 2018