UK pledges £50m to fight spread of Ebola
BRITAIN pledged an extra £50million yesterday to fight Ebola as it emerged the disease has spread to a major city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The new case in the city of Goma sparked fears the outbreak in DRC could spiral further out of control, after an evangelical preacher fell ill with the first recorded case of Ebola in the urban hub in a nearly year-old epidemic.
Goma, which has a population of around one million, is the capital of North Kivu province, the epicentre of an outbreak that has claimed more than 1,600 lives – the second highest toll in Ebola’s history.
Rory Stewart, the International Development Secretary, announced the new funding yesterday, and urged other countries to follow suit.
“There are still a lot of things to be very, very worried about. This is not a moment for complacency,” he said.
He said “a lot more money” was needed and urged “dear friends from the other G7 countries” to step up.
The US is the biggest single donor and said it will provide “more in the coming months”. Mr Stewart paid tribute to the many people doing an “extraordinary job on the ground,” but warned the disease could spread further.
“To put it very bluntly, we have about half the number of WHO staff that we should have doing preparedness in places like Burundi and South Sudan because the money is simply not coming through.”
The case emerged on the same day that the major partners fighting the outbreak – including the DRC government, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations and UK and US governments – met in Geneva to discuss a “reset” to the response and urge more donors to come forward and help bring the epidemic under control.
The Goma case, identified on Sunday, saw a pastor travel to the city by bus from Butembo, nearly 190 miles (300km) away, passing three Ebola control points along the way. At each checkpoint he gave a different name and said he felt well, despite first having symptoms earlier in the week.
The DRC ministry of health claims all 18 passengers on the bus as well as the driver have been identified and will be vaccinated against the diseases.