Congo Ebola Outbreak: A Public Health Emergency of International Concern

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) echoes calls by authors of a recent article in The Lancet for World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus to reconvene the Emergency Committee to consider declaring a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), opening the doors for increased international cooperation to stamp out the current Ebola outbreak that is ravaging the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

"Traditional methods for containing Ebola in the Congo simply will not work," said AHF President Michael Weinstein. "Not only are we seeing an over 50% mortality rate, ongoing political instability and armed conflict are disrupting response efforts and making the populace increasingly distrustful. To further complicate the situation, migration from affected areas threatens the entire region. AHF calls on the WHO to reconvene the Emergency Committee and declare a PHEIC. Ebola is a world problem ? not an Africa problem ? and the WHO should have every asset at its disposal that the international community can provide. That cannot happen if the status quo is maintained."

It is clear that this outbreak meets the criteria for declaring a PHEIC?it must be put into place. The WHO's response cannot falter under the pressures of violence and instability, and it must leverage everything in its power to stop the current outbreak. AHF believes it is time to run towards the danger and respond to the call.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over one million clients in 43 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare.