WHO Signals Hope in DRC Ebola Fight as Key Challenges Linger

(MENAFN) The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Wednesday that coordinated international efforts are beginning to turn the tide against the active Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), even as significant hurdles persist, officials told a press conference in Geneva.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking fresh from a firsthand visit to the DRC, said he returned with cautious optimism. "What I saw gave me hope, although challenges remain," he said.

Tedros outlined the current scale of the crisis: 344 confirmed cases spanning 24 health zones across three provinces, with 60 recorded deaths. In a notable development, the number of suspected cases has plummeted to 116 — down sharply from more than 1,000 the previous week.

The WHO chief confirmed the organization's risk assessment remains unchanged — rated very high at the national level, high regionally, and low globally. "The outbreak had a big head start, and we're still behind, but under the leadership of the Government of DRC, we are catching up," Tedros said.

Despite the progress, Tedros flagged a series of persistent obstacles hampering the response. These include insufficient laboratory and diagnostic capacity causing delays in case confirmation, difficulties in contact tracing within the DRC, travel restrictions disrupting critical supply chains, deep-rooted community mistrust, and the absence of any licensed vaccines or targeted therapeutics for the Bundibugyo ebolavirus strain currently driving the outbreak.

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