Ebola crisis funding falls short of $500 million, first pledged | Today’s news
(Bloomberg) — Funding pledges for the Ebola crisis in central Africa are just over half the $500 million the region’s leaders initially announced earlier this week, as health officials warn more money is needed to stop the spread of the disease.
The liabilities are about $290 million, Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday. Kaseya said some organizations are refusing to allow development funds to be used to fight the epidemic. He said he would give them a week to think it over before naming them.
“We cannot afford to stop this epidemic without resources,” Kaseya told a news conference. “We cannot afford to stop this epidemic just by the political statements of some countries.”
Eastern Congo is facing a “catastrophic collision” of war and disease as fighting accelerates the spread of Ebola, the World Health Organization warned on Wednesday. There are 1,077 suspected cases and 246 suspected deaths, the African CDC said Thursday.
Oxfam has asked for $10 million to expand its work, but so far only $800,000 has been donated, Congo director Manenji Mangundu said in an interview.
“The speed of the flow of funds is so slow,” he said. “It affects our ability to scale quickly and reach more populations.”
Distrust of aid workers is fueling the spread of the disease, and more staff are needed to engage with communities, Mangundu said.
“We can’t have more staff if we don’t have money,” he said.
In previous outbreaks, such as 2018 and 2019, the influx of resources was massive and rapid, Mangundu said. Now aid workers “need more resources to bring in supplies.”
Health officials acknowledged that poor contact tracing, delays in laboratory test results, a lack of protective equipment and slow progress in setting up quarantine facilities have all hampered efforts to stop the spread of the rare Bundibugyo strain.
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(Update with Oxfam Country Director commentary in paragraph five.)
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