An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed 65 lives, according to internal WHO documents obtained by this desk. The figures, confirmed by sources in Kinshasa and Geneva, mark a sharp escalation from the 42 deaths reported last week. The UK government, despite pledges of a £100 million vaccine programme, appears paralysed by bureaucratic infighting. One source close to the Foreign Office told me: 'The money is there but the channels are clogged. People are dying while civil servants argue over procurement.'
The outbreak, centred on the remote town of Bikoro in the DRC's Équateur Province, has now spread to urban areas along the Congo River. Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières has reported a 30 per cent decline in vaccine deliveries over the past seven days. 'We are running on fumes,' a field coordinator told me over an encrypted call, his voice breaking. The UK's pledge, announced with fanfare in March, was supposed to leverage a partnership with the DRC's National Institute of Biomedical Research. But documents show that contracts worth £50 million were delayed due to 'unresolved liability clauses'.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has classified the outbreak as a Grade 3 emergency, its highest level. But coordination meetings in Brazzaville have been described by attendees as 'theatre' and 'a blame game.' One diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: 'The UK is playing saviour while the DRC government is playing dead. Both sides need to realise this is a fire, not a committee meeting.'
The virus itself is the Zaire strain, the most lethal. Fatality rates in this outbreak are running at 65 per cent, above the historical average. Children under five account for nearly half of the deaths. 'We are seeing bodies left in homes because families are too frightened to call for burials,' a local health worker told me. The UK's vaccine effort, known as Project Canopy, has delivered only 2,200 doses versus a target of 10,000. The shortfall is due to what a Downing Street source called 'logistical challenges in a complex theatre'.
But this is not about logistics. This is about power and money. The real question is why multinational pharmaceutical companies are dictating the terms of a humanitarian response. Documents reveal that GSK and Merck, the two major vaccine producers, are demanding price guarantees and indemnity clauses that the DRC government cannot accept. The UK, as the self-styled lead, has failed to broker a compromise. Instead, the government is funneling millions into public relations consultants rather than cold chain storage.
I have seen this play before. In 2014, when Ebola ravaged West Africa, the response was delayed by months of high-level posturing. Over 11,000 people died. Now the same mistakes are being made. The difference this time is that the UK has positioned itself as the saviour. But when you follow the money, you find the bodies. The 65 dead will become 600 if this farce continues.
The Foreign Office has so far declined to comment. A spokesperson told me 'the UK remains committed to supporting the DRC government and WHO in their efforts to contain the outbreak.' But in the same breath, they admitted that the vaccine rollout would be 'delayed by two weeks due to internal review processes.'
I have been doing this job long enough to know that 'internal review' is the death rattle of a broken system. The suits in Whitehall will send their memos. The suits in Geneva will hold their meetings. And the bodies will pile up in Bikoro. This is not a crisis. This is a crime.
