The World Health Organization has sounded the alarm over a potential catastrophic collision of diseases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where an ongoing Ebola outbreak is now colliding with a surge in measles cases and the relentless spread of COVID-19. Sources close to the WHO confirm that the agency's internal modelling indicates a perfect storm of public health failures, with the country's fragile healthcare system on the brink of collapse.
Dr Michael Ryan, the WHO's executive director of health emergencies, described the situation as unprecedented and deeply concerning. "We are seeing multiple outbreaks in one of the most challenging environments on earth," he told reporters in Geneva. "The combination of Ebola, measles, and COVID-19 is catastrophic. The healthcare workers are exhausted, the supply chains are broken, and the funding is drying up."
Documents obtained by this newsroom reveal that the WHO had warned the DRC government weeks ago about the need to maintain Ebola response capacity even as attention shifted to the pandemic. But the money trail points to a different story: donors reallocating funds from Ebola to COVID-19, leaving the response under-resourced. Internal emails show frantic pleas from WHO field officers for protective gear and testing kits, met with terse replies about budget constraints.
The numbers are stark. As of this week, the DRC has reported over 3,400 Ebola cases, with 2,237 deaths. Measles, which was already ravaging the country before Ebola arrived, has killed over 6,000 people this year alone, mostly children. And COVID-19, while officially under-reported, is spreading silently through cities like Kinshasa and Goma, where testing remains pitifully low.
But the real scandal is not just the numbers. It is the systematic failure of international surveillance. One source, a WHO epidemiologist who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the agency had been "flying blind" for months due to a lack of data from remote areas. "We have no idea how many are dying from what," the source said. "Patients are dying at home, and their deaths are being recorded as something else. The system is broken."
The DRC's health minister, Dr Eteni Longondo, dismissed the WHO's warning as alarmist. He insisted that the government had the situation under control and accused the WHO of exaggerating the crisis to secure more funding. But the documents tell a different story. Budget spreadsheets show a 40 per cent cut in Ebola response funding since March, with the WHO's own contingency fund drained by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the money is flowing elsewhere. Charities and NGOs are redirecting resources to COVID-19 hotspots in Europe and North America, where the return on investment: donor visibility is higher. A senior official at one major aid organisation, speaking off the record, admitted: "Let's be honest, nobody wants to fund another Ebola outbreak in Africa. It's old news. COVID-19 is where the cameras are."
The consequences of this neglect are now being felt. In the northeastern town of Beni, a hotspot of the Ebola outbreak, health workers report a surge in measles cases among children who missed vaccinations due to lockdowns. The same lockdowns have also disrupted the supply of anti-malarial drugs, leading to an expected spike in malaria deaths.
Dr Ryan warned that the situation could spiral out of control within weeks if immediate action is not taken. "We are at a tipping point," he said. "If we don't act now, we will see a disease-collision that will make the current outbreaks look like a dress rehearsal."
The WHO has called for an emergency meeting of donors next week to plug the funding gap. But with global attention focused on the vaccine race, it is unclear whether anyone will answer the call. One thing is certain: the bodies are piling up, and the suits in Geneva are running out of time.
