The Red Cross nurse spoke on condition of anonymity, fear flickering behind her eyes. She has seen this before. The steady drip of cases in a remote corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The exhausted health workers. The families burying their dead without proper rituals. 'It is a massive challenge,' she said. 'We are fighting a virus that thrives on our broken systems.'
Sources confirm at least 12 new suspected cases in the past week, concentrated in a region where the last outbreak claimed over 2,000 lives. The nurse, who has worked through multiple epidemics, says the current response is hampered by funding gaps. 'We lack protective gear. We lack vaccines. We lack trust,' she told this correspondent.
The World Health Organization has not declared a public health emergency of international concern, but internal documents seen by this outlet reveal growing alarm. A leaked memo from the WHO's regional office warns of 'critical shortages' in the supply chain for experimental therapies. The Congolese government, meanwhile, has been slow to mobilise resources. A health ministry official, speaking off the record, admitted that 'political will is evaporating.'
This is a pattern. In 2018, when Ebola struck a conflict zone in North Kivu, the world waited months before acting. By then, the virus had spread to Uganda. The current outbreak is in a remote but densely populated area near the border with Rwanda. Economic interests are at play. Mining companies have refused to halt operations, citing contractual obligations. 'They care more about coltan than lives,' the nurse said.
The Red Cross has appealed for $10 million in emergency funding. So far, less than a quarter has been raised. The nurse is pragmatic. 'We do what we can. We bury the dead. We educate the living. But we cannot outrun a virus on empty stomachs.'
This is not just a health crisis. It is a crisis of accountability. The World Bank has poured billions into disease surveillance in Africa. Where is the money going? A 2022 audit by the African Union found that 40% of health funds in the region were unaccounted for. The same names keep appearing. The same shell companies. The same offshore accounts.
I have tracked this before. In 2014, during the West African Ebola outbreak, a British drug company was paid millions for a vaccine that never arrived. The trail led to a hedge fund in the Cayman Islands. The company was never prosecuted. The money was never recovered.
Now, history repeats. The Red Cross nurse is not naive. 'I know the world is watching. But watching is not the same as acting.'
Let me be clear. This is not an isolated failure. It is a feature of a global system that values profit over people. The same banks that launder drug cartel money also process health aid transfers. The same politicians who sign trade deals also veto emergency funding.
I will be following the money. I have already requested documents from the DR Congo health ministry under the country's access to information laws. The response time is 30 days. By then, the outbreak may be under control. Or it may not.
The nurse has no illusions. 'We will do our job. The question is whether the world will do its job.'
For now, the bodies keep coming. The nurses keep working. And somewhere, a banker is counting his bonus.
