Africa CDC Raises Ebola Funding Appeal to $1.4 Billion as Outbreak Worsens
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has sharply increased its funding appeal for the continent’s Ebola response, urging African leaders and international partners to mobilise at least US$1.4 billion as the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda continues to escalate.
Addressing the 25th Extraordinary Session of the African Union Assembly in Accra, Africa CDC Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya said the required funding had nearly tripled from the US$518 million estimated last month, reflecting the deteriorating public health and humanitarian situation.
He said the resources are urgently needed to strengthen coordinated health and humanitarian interventions against the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, which continues to spread across affected areas.
According to Dr. Kaseya, the DRC’s Ministry of Health has now confirmed 2,423 Ebola cases, warning that the number of deaths could exceed 1,000 before the AU summit concludes.
He said the outbreak is being compounded by a worsening humanitarian crisis, with more than 1.15 million people displaced internally, making disease surveillance, treatment and containment significantly more difficult.
Dr. Kaseya also highlighted serious shortcomings in contact tracing, warning that the outbreak remains largely uncontrolled.
He said that based on the current number of confirmed infections, health authorities should have identified approximately 97,000 contacts, yet only about 10,000 have been traced, with 8,500 currently under active monitoring.
The limited contact tracing capacity, he noted, has fuelled widespread community transmission, with more than 70 percent of new infections and 60 percent of recent deaths occurring outside formal health facilities.
The AU Extraordinary Session, which runs from Tuesday to Wednesday, is being held under the theme: “Advancing Justice, Equity and Universal Health Coverage: Ending AIDS and TB, Improving Maternal Health, and Addressing Endemic Non-Communicable and Neglected Tropical Diseases and Conditions in Africa.”
