Ebola outbreak: World Bank boosts funding for Congo and Africa

The World Bank has announced $93 million in new funding to strengthen Ebola response efforts across Africa as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) works to contain an ongoing outbreak. According to a statement released on Wednesday, $80 million will be directed toward improving disease surveillance, laboratory capacity, clinical case management, infection prevention and control, and community engagement in affected areas of DR Congo, Anadolu Agency reported.

“Health emergencies don’t wait and neither did we,” said Albert Zeufack, the World Bank’s division director for DR Congo . RECOMMENDED STORIES Namibia steps up efforts to contain FMD outbreak DR Congo’s Ebola cases surpass 9,000 as deaths reach 4,381 Why has former DR Congo President Joseph Kabila joined forces with M23 rebels?

DR Congo’s Kabila teams up with M23 rebels According to the latest update from the country’s Health Ministry cited in the statement, the outbreak has resulted in 9,066 confirmed cases and 4,381 deaths since it was declared in May. Seven provinces have been affected: Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Bas-Uele, Tshopo and South-Ubangi.

The funding will also help maintain maternal and child health services in Ituri, identified as the outbreak’s epicentre, to reduce additional risks to women and newborns. It is also intended to protect livelihoods in affected communities and allow children to continue attending school safely.

A further $13 million will support emergency preparedness, response and resilience in 11 countries across the region through the Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Resilience programme, the World Bank said. In May, following the declaration of the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo and Uganda, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned that 10 African countries faced a high risk of the disease spreading.

Those countries included South Sudan, Rwanda, Kenya, Zambia, the Central African Republic, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Angola, the Republic of the Congo and Burundi. Uganda has since been declared Ebola-free, while Kenya reported its first imported case from DR Congo last week. The World Bank Group has committed a total of $426.6 million to the broader Ebola emergency response through a combination of existing and new grants and concessional financing.

News.Az By Aysel Mammadzada