Trump's USAID cuts worsen Congo's Ebola crisis

Congo faces largest Ebola outbreak

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is reeling from an Ebola outbreak estimated to have killed nearly five thousand four hundred people.

Outbreak detected in gold-mining town

The outbreak was first detected in Mongbwalu, a gold-mining town of around one hundred thirty thousand people in Ituri province in northeastern Congo.

Bundibugyo virus confirmed May 15

Laboratory tests confirmed on May fifteen that the outbreak was caused by the Bundibugyo virus.Since then the epidemic has spread to eight provinces, with about sixty five percent of new cases occurring in the community.

Virus spreads across borders

The epidemic is now spreading fast and far beyond Congo's borders, reaching Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria.

Deeper problem: governance crisis

Beyond vaccine shortages and armed conflict, a decades-long crisis of governance underlies the outbreak. Ebola is particularly difficult to control in Congo because its ruling class has done little to care for the health and…

“Ebola is particularly difficult to control in Congo because its ruling class has done little to care for the health and well-being of most Congolese.”

Trump cuts compound the crisis

The Trump administration has compounded the problem by weakening American and international institutions. Dismantling USAID, ending foreign assistance programs, cutting CDC staff, and withdrawing from the WHO have undermined disease surveillance and emergency response.

Mobutu's legacy of corruption

In nineteen sixty five, five years after Congo's independence from Belgium, Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in a coup.He aligned himself with the U.S.

Deaths outside treatment centers

A substantial proportion of Ebola deaths have occurred outside healthcare facilities. During a recent two-week period, the WHO found that approximately sixty five percent of deaths occurred in communities rather than treatment centers, exposing failures…

Healthcare system in tatters

Congo's healthcare system has been deteriorating since the nineteen nineties.The two successive Congo wars, which began in nineteen ninety six and nineteen ninety eight, destroyed health facilities and disrupted services.Today the system is in tatters.

Ghost workers siphon Ebola funds

In August, health minister Roger Kamba acknowledged that fifteen to twenty percent of names added to payrolls for Ebola response belonged to ghost workers, fictitious employees invented by poorly paid officials to siphon off funds.

“15% to 20% of the names added to payrolls for Ebola response belonged to "ghost workers," fictitious employees invented by poorly paid officials to siphon off funds.”

Uganda contained its outbreak

While Ebola raged in Congo, Uganda contained it. According to The Lancet, Uganda's Ministry of Health announced the end of the outbreak on July twenty eight, after forty two days without a new confirmed locally…

Uganda's functioning institutions worked

Uganda rapidly identified cases, isolated patients, began treatment, and traced and monitored contacts.Officials identified more than eight hundred contacts and halted local transmission.Effective epidemic control depends on functioning public institutions that can act quickly.

Weakened institutions limit help

For decades Congo relied heavily on USAID during humanitarian crises.The agency's dismantling, America's withdrawal from the WHO, and cuts to the CDC have weakened international response.