The United States is surging resources to address a deadly and fast-moving Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda. The U.S. Department of State is working closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease control to help quell the spread of the outbreak, treat the sick, and address the humanitarian needs of the region.
The U.S. State Department has mobilized a task force led by senior experts with direct experience addressing prior Ebola outbreaks and directed an initial $23 million in bilateral foreign assistance to the region for immediate efforts to combat the disease. It has also deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART to the DRC to support on-the-ground coordination with host governments and humanitarian partners.
“Healthcare and humanitarian workers heading to the frontline should know that the United States supports them and is swiftly mobilizing all available resources to assist frontline providers and response efforts,” said a statement.
The support includes a recently announced commitment to rapidly fund and deploy up to 50 treatment clinics in the DRC and Uganda that will enable implementing partners to establish clinical care and containment perimeters around affected areas. Clinics will provide emergency Ebola screening, triage, and isolation capacity.
The aid builds on previous efforts in disease surveillance and outbreak detection in the region, and will bolster each country’s own response, supporting surveillance, laboratory capacity, risk communication, safe burials, entry and exit screening, and clinical case management. The efforts are pursuant to bilateral health Memorandums of Understanding signed with both the DRC and Uganda under the America First Global Health Strategy. The agreements aim to help countries strengthen their own response to such crises in the long term.
The U.S. is also working closely with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs or OCHA. In December, the U.S. announced $2 billion in investments into a pooled fund managed by OCHA to address 17 crisis-hit countries including DRC and Uganda. Much of that funding was swiftly implemented with the help of reforms to the system. The U.S. added an additional $1.8 billion earlier this month to help expand emergency relief worldwide. The total $3.8 billion committed includes $250 million earmarked for DRC and Uganda, which is being prioritized for imminent funding actions.
The U.S. is also engaging private sector partners, including U.S. companies in the region to strengthen logistics, supply chains, and operational support for the response.
“American leadership remains indispensable in confronting global health threats,” wrote U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos on X.
The United States will continue to work closely with host governments, international partners, and U.S. private sector stakeholders to align response efforts, support affected communities and marshal international action to save lives.