WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the High-Level Member States briefing on the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – 1 September 2026

Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,

On behalf of Tom Fletcher and OCHA, and WHO and me, good afternoon and welcome to those joining us here in Geneva and to those joining us online from the DRC and New York.

Before we start, as you may be aware, today is a very sad day for the WHO family, with the sudden passing of Dr Vasee Moorthy.

Vasee joined WHO in 2009 and made a major contribution to advancing the Organization's work on clinical trials, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Most recently, he was leading the R&D Blueprint for Epidemics, which included advancing trials of vaccines and therapeutics for the current Ebola epidemic.

Vasee was undertaking this work with passion and commitment, bringing partners together to advance trials as fast as possible.

The fact that we have three vaccines and three therapeutics now in trials is due in no small part to Vasee's determination and energy.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Vasee will be remembered for his kindness, humility and collegial spirit.

My deepest sympathies are with his family and with all WHO colleagues who knew him and worked with him.

By the way, he just returned from DRC, from Bunia, a few days ago.

I ask you to join me in observing a moment's silence for Vasee.

[A MOMENT'S SILENCE WAS OBSERVED]

Thank you.

Dear colleagues,

As you know, the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is already the second-largest on record, and the fastest-moving that we have ever seen.

Today we passed 6000 reported cases, with almost 3000 deaths.

The epidemic now affects 60 health zones in six provinces, across a huge geographic area.

This is an extremely complex emergency, involving multiple partners across the UN system and beyond.

To strengthen the coordination of the response, in June, Tom and I designated Julien Harneis as Senior Ebola Coordinator, and we're glad that Julien is joining us today from the field.

That arrangement is contributing to the coordination of our UN response.

WHO is working under the government's leadership, and in partnership with Africa CDC and many others, to scale up every part of the response.

We have shipped supplies, deployed experts, expanded testing and treatment capacity, and we're advancing clinical trials of vaccines and therapeutics.

We have made a lot of progress, but it's not enough, and we still face major challenges, and the virus is still ahead of us.

Most concerningly, the majority of deaths are still happening in communities rather than in treatment centres;

Many of those who die are not being buried safely, which is fuelling transmission;

And many deaths are among people who were not on a list of known contacts.

That means there are chains of transmission we don't know about.

Until every chain is found and broken, the epidemic will continue;

And it will continue to pose a threat to DRC, its neighbours, and the region as a whole - and beyond.

The epidemic cannot be separated from the humanitarian context in which it is occurring.

This part of the DRC has suffered for decades from conflict, displacement, poverty and hunger.

Nor is Ebola the only health threat that the people of this region face.

One community leader asked me why the world seemed to care about Ebola but not about diarrheal disease, or malaria, or malnutrition. Of course, many are also killed because of the conflict. It's a fair question.

All of this has contributed - understandably - to mistrust on the part of the local population.

Earning and keeping that trust is the single most important element in changing the trajectory of the epidemic.

We will end this epidemic, just as we have ended every previous Ebola epidemic.

The question is how fast we can do it, and how many lives will be lost before we do.

The longer it takes, the higher the cost, in both lives and resources.

The Government-led plan for the next six months is for US$ 1.3 billion.

We ask all Member States to increase and accelerate contributions to fund this plan.

We know that we are making this request at a time when financing for humanitarian assistance has contracted, and when there are many other competing priorities.

But unlike some other intractable humanitarian emergencies, this is one that we can control and end relatively quickly if we choose to.

It's now my pleasure to hand over to my friend and colleague Tom Fletcher.

Tom, you have the floor.