A child infected with Ebola has been rescued from a remote village in the Democratic Republic of Congo in a risky operation praised by British aid agencies as a model for rapid response. The five-year-old boy, identified only as Jean, was airlifted from the dense forests of North Kivu province to a treatment centre in Goma on Wednesday, after a coordinated effort involving the UK-funded charity Save the Children and the World Health Organisation.
Jean’s family alerted health workers after he developed a fever and bleeding. With the nearest treatment centre hours away by road, a helicopter was scrambled to evacuate him, cutting the journey from six hours to just forty-five minutes. Doctor Amina Yusuf, a paediatrician with Save the Children, described the situation as critical. “Every minute counts with Ebola. This child was deteriorating fast. The team acted with incredible speed,” she said.
The rescue comes as Congo grapples with its 15th Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered there in 1976. More than a hundred cases have been reported this year, with a fatality rate of around 40 per cent. British International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds said: “This operation shows what British aid can achieve when it works hand in hand with local health workers. We are proud to support these life-saving interventions.”
But the cost of such operations has raised questions about the sustainability of Britain’s aid commitments. The government has faced criticism for cutting the overseas aid budget from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of national income. Campaigners argue that swift evacuations like Jean’s are at risk if funding continues to shrink. Rebecca Brown, director of the charity RESULTS UK, said: “This rescue is a miracle for one family. But without sustained investment, there will be many more children we cannot reach.”
Back in North Kivu, the virus remains a grim reality for communities already battered by conflict and poverty. Jean’s mother, Marie, wept as she watched the helicopter lift off. “I thought my son would die. They gave him a chance,” she said through a translator. Her two other children have been placed under observation.
The UK’s aid contribution has been instrumental in training local health workers and maintaining cold chains for vaccines. The Ebola vaccine, which requires storage at minus 80 degrees Celsius, is now being deployed in the region. But with only 200,000 doses available globally, health workers face tough choices about who gets inoculated.
For now, Jean is stabilising in the treatment centre, hooked up to IV fluids and receiving experimental treatments. His survival could hinge on the next few days. Doctor Yusuf said: “We are not out of the woods yet. But this child is a symbol of what humanity can do when we work together across borders and across poverty lines.”
