Britain has committed an additional £50 million ($67.56 million) in emergency aid to help contain an accelerating Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, bringing its total response funding to £78 million.
Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office announced the funding package on Tuesday as total confirmed cases surpassed 6,000 in the nation’s largest-ever recorded epidemic.
The current health crisis has claimed nearly 3,000 lives since emerging in mid-May. The outbreak is driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which no approved vaccines or targeted treatments currently exist.
According to the UK government, The £51m package announced consists of £40m from humanitarian crisis and contingency funding and unallocated spend. £11m in re-allocation from existing FCDO allocations.
The capital injection will directly target disease surveillance, frontline healthcare support, expanded treatment access, and safe burials. British public health experts have already been deployed to eastern provinces to manage local logistics.
Now recognized as the second-largest Ebola epidemic globally, containment efforts face severe headwinds. World Health Organization officials warn that regional spread remains exponential, compounded by recent international aid cuts affecting response capacity.
“As the outbreak intensifies, we are accelerating our response to match the pace and scale of the challenge,” stated Minister for Africa Kirsty McNeill while outlining the UK’s expanded financial intervention.
