Read online: https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/08/1168217
The Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) requires “urgent” action and funding to rein in its alarming spread, the UN Secretary-General told reporters at UN Headquarters on Thursday.
Key points
More than 5,600 cases and 2,700 deaths in six affected provinces in DRC since the outbreak began in mid-May
The World Health Organization (WHO) believes it has slowed its spread, but has not yet managed to reverse the current trend
Prevention work has already begun in neighbouring Burundi, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
The Secretary-General makes the point that we are fighting not only the Ebola virus, but also the virus of indifference of the international community.
COMMENT (NPW): There is an 8-minute clip of the UN Secretary-General giving his statement and answering several questions from the press. What is extraordinary is that NONE of the questions asked by the press was relevant to Ebola - they all related to other subjects. This of course underlines the Secretary-General's point about 'virus of indifference' which also appears to permeate the attending journalists.
I believe that if journalists only ask questions that have nothing to do with the subject of the press briefing, this is a disservice to all. What do you think?
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org