ACCRA, July 22– The Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has reiterated its appeal to African leaders and international partners to raise at least 1.4 billion U.S. dollars to strengthen the response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in parts of the continent.
Speaking on Tuesday at the 25th Extraordinary Session of the African Union Assembly in Accra, Ghana’s capital, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said the funding requirement for the Ebola response had risen sharply from an initial estimate of 518 million dollars presented last month to 1.4 billion dollars, reflecting the worsening outbreak.
Kaseya underscored the strong need to mobilize the resources to boost the combined health and humanitarian responses to the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak escalating across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda.
He said the situation in the DRC continues to deteriorate, with the country’s health ministry confirming at least 2,423 cases, and warned that the death toll could reach 1,000 before the AU’s extraordinary session concludes.
The official also noted that the humanitarian situation in the DRC has also continued to worsen, with more than 1.15 million people internally displaced, further complicating the Ebola response and increasing the risk of disease transmission.
He also expressed concern over significant gaps in contact tracing, a key indicator of whether an outbreak is under control. Of the 97,000 contacts that should have been identified based on the 2,423 confirmed cases, health authorities have identified only about 10,000, with 8,500 under follow-up, he said.
According to Kaseya, the limited capacity for contact tracing has contributed to recorded high community transmission, with more than 70 percent of new cases and 60 percent of new deaths emerging within communities.
The 25th Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly was held from Tuesday to Wednesday 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.” (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
