AHF congratulates World Bank on $ 300 million to fight Ebola in DRC

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today congratulated World Bank leaders for promptly pledging $ 300 million to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for its efforts to contain and eradicate an epidemic Ebola in this country has claimed the lives of nearly 1,700 people.

As of July 12, 2,477 cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) resulted in the death of 1,655 people. In addition, the virus has spread to neighboring Uganda, where three cases of Ebola virus infection have been confirmed by 24 June. The three individuals had recently returned to the DRC and had all succumbed to the disease.

The World Bank's aid pledge came after the World Health Organization (WHO) finally declared an international public health emergency (PHEIC) on July 17 in the DRC. threat to global health security.

A PHEIC statement includes legal obligations requiring the states concerned to cooperate with the WHO to coordinate an outbreak response plan and also warns the global public health community of a significant risk to food safety. of the planet.

"We thank the World Bank for so quickly stepping up the help needed to contain and eradicate the Ebola epidemic in Congo," said the AHF President. Michael Weinstein. "We strongly criticized the World Health Organization and its leader, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, for the excessive delay they took in formally recognizing this outbreak as a public health emergency in the DRC, but also as a major health threat to the world. . An emergency declaration is only effective if it is followed by a swift action and we commend the World Bank for its compbadion and eagerness to provide this badistance. "

According to a BBC report, the WHO currently lacks $ 54 million to deal with the epidemic.

The AHF implements health care programs in two countries currently affected or threatened by the epidemic: Uganda and Rwanda. Despite lessons learned from the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, basic medical equipment and supplies are still lacking. The AHF recently donated $ 30,000 worth of medical supplies to Uganda to help protect Western Uganda medical staff near the DRC border.