Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on 12 November that Ebola funding in DR Congo is not reaching front-line workers, who it said go unpaid and untrained as the outbreak, which has infected 11,000 people, remains “out of control”.
The warning adds to concerns raised last month by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which said $700mn of $962mn disbursed to organisations in the response was unaccounted for, the BBC reported. The BBC said it had asked the Congolese government for comment.
What did MSF say about Ebola funding?
In a report published six months into the response, MSF said many responders were left to contain the outbreak “with empty hands and empty pockets”, despite the large sums provided. MSF president Javid Abdelmoneim called the situation “simply unacceptable”.
According to the BBC’s account of the report, MSF found staff unpaid, poorly trained and short of essential supplies, ambulances without fuel and surveillance teams that “exist on paper but are nowhere to be seen on the ground”. It urged the Congolese government and UN agencies to “strengthen oversight and accountability”.
MSF also said two-thirds of deaths were occurring in communities rather than in treatment centres, and that some health facilities lacking water, chlorine or triage systems had become “new centres of transmission”. The BBC said more than 5,400 people had died since the outbreak was declared in May, making it the second-deadliest on record.
How much Ebola funding is unaccounted for?
Africa CDC’s figure was $700mn out of $962mn disbursed to implementing organisations, the BBC said. Its director-general, Jean Kaseya, said it was too early to call it embezzlement and described it as a major failure of transparency and financial reporting.
Congo’s Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said aid agencies were required to give details of their work so the ministry could provide oversight, but that only 22% had done so. “Transparency must be total,” he wrote on X, according to the BBC. DNE Africa reported that the outbreak passed 11,000 cases on 11 November.
What do the figures mean for the Ebola response?
The figures are claims by MSF, Africa CDC and the ministry, and none has been independently audited. The government’s response to MSF’s report had not been published at the time of writing, and the unaccounted amount has not been shown to be misappropriated.
The strain behind the outbreak, Bundibugyo, has no approved vaccine or treatment, though trials are under way, the BBC said. Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson estimates, according to Reuters as cited by the BBC, that more than half of cases go undetected and the outbreak may last another year. The virus has also been reported in Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria. Kenya began a 42-day countdown to an Ebola-free declaration after discharging its last patient.
What happens next?
MSF wants the government and UN agencies to ensure disbursed Ebola funding is used to train, pay and equip responders, and directed to the areas of greatest need. It said North Kivu was served too slowly and Haut-Uélé was “dramatically overlooked”. No audit timetable has been announced.
FAQ
What is MSF’s warning on Ebola funding?
MSF says Ebola funding is not reaching front-line responders in DR Congo, who it says are unpaid, untrained and short of supplies.
How much Ebola funding is unaccounted for?
Africa CDC said last month that $700mn of $962mn disbursed to implementing organisations was unaccounted for. It called it a transparency failure and said it was too early to call it embezzlement.
How many people have died in the DR Congo Ebola outbreak?
More than 5,400 people have died and 11,000 been infected since the outbreak was declared in May, the BBC reported.
