WASHINGTON, DC – WITH confirmed Ebola cases and deaths continuing to rise, the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies are intensifying efforts to contain the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The DRC remains the epicentre of Africa's latest Ebola outbreak, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners to deploy additional personnel and resources to slow the spread of the deadly virus.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher warned that the response must accelerate to keep pace with the rapidly expanding outbreak.
"Ebola is winning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We cannot let the virus outrun our response," Fletcher said.
The warning comes as confirmed Ebola cases have surpassed 4,000, while the death toll has climbed beyond 2,100. Describing the crisis as unprecedented, Fletcher said the outbreak is the fastest-growing Ebola epidemic on record.
"The outbreak is the fastest growing on record. Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization has warned that it is set to become the deadliest. The epidemic is killing someone every 30 minutes," he said.
In response, Fletcher convened an emergency meeting of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, where leaders of the world's largest humanitarian organizations agreed to significantly expand the international response.
He noted that progress has been made since the UN activated its humanitarian scale-up in early June, including stronger leadership on the ground, the deployment of a Senior Ebola Coordinator to improve coordination, and nearly US$300 million in international donor support.
To strengthen the response further, Fletcher announced an additional US$30.5 million from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). The new allocation follows an earlier US$24 million package provided to the DRC and four neighbouring countries to help combat the outbreak.
The UN has also deployed 20 additional personnel to frontline operations.
However, Fletcher stressed that much more remains to be done. "We need speed, scale and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us," he said.
According to Fletcher, the UN's Ebola response plan is focused on protecting lives by doubling the number of teams conducting safe and dignified burials, tripling treatment capacity, strengthening contact tracing efforts, and deploying more experienced emergency managers.
He added that improving access to clean water, sanitation, healthcare and other essential services remains critical to containing the outbreak.
With more than 2,000 lives already lost, Fletcher urged the international community to act with greater urgency.
