African nations must ramp up their domestic spending to combat the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda, according to the continent’s primary public health agency.
The organization warned on Friday that Africa can no longer remain dependent on external international partners to secure its public health infrastructure.
Data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates the crisis has already resulted in over 200 deaths across 894 confirmed cases since May 15, with contact tracing expanding to as many as 35,000 individuals.
Public health officials believe the true caseload is higher, given that official confirmation of the outbreak was delayed by several weeks.
Speaking from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, Africa CDC Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya told The Associated Press that this current surge, noted as the most severe iteration at this specific phase in history, serves as a critical wake-up call for the continent to prioritize internal health investments and break away from foreign reliance.
“If this outbreak was in Europe, the United States or other continents, they would already have developed a vaccine and medicine,” Kaseya said.
“We don’t want to be a continent begging every day. We want to be a continent of people who know what they are doing and who are respected because they are doing the right thing,” he added.
Containment and medical interventions are being severely hampered by the absence of an authorized vaccine or therapeutic treatment for this particular strain, known as the Bundibugyo virus.
This differs from the more widespread Zaire strain, which has a functioning vaccine and was responsible for the vast majority of Congo’s 16 prior outbreaks.
The strain of the current crisis is being heavily felt at the epicenter in the eastern Ituri province of Congo, where community burials have become a daily reality, even for infants.
Local health practitioners are operating on minimal rest while simultaneously managing community resistance, skepticism, and occasional physical hostility from frustrated residents.
