The European Commission has released aid funding to prevent the spread of Ebola in Burundi as the disease continues to spread through the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Commission will provide €465,000 to strengthen preparedness for and protection against a potential outbreak of Ebola in Burundi. While to date the epidemic is almost entirely confined to the North Eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, concerns have grown over potential spread to the neighbouring countries of Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda due to porous borders and high levels of trade; and the EU has to date committed more than €4m in humanitarian aid for disease prevention and rapid detection measures in these regions to guard against ‘spill-over’. €47m has been deployed for Ebola treatment and additional humanitarian support in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which currently sees an average of 81 cases of Ebola per week, since 2018.
The new funding, to be delivered through the World Health Organization, will be deployed to support measures aimed at preventing and potentially addressing future cases of Ebola in Burundi; shoring up surveillance and response facilities and co-ordinating efforts between humanitarian actors on the ground. It will complement EU funding for awareness raising and surveillance of Ebola already distributed around the region through United Nations bodies and NGOs.
Christos Stylianides, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management and the EU’s Ebola Coordinator, said: “To effectively fight the Ebola virus we do not only have to address the affected cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo but also increase our efforts to prevent the disease from spreading to neighbouring countries like Burundi. The European Union is therefore supporting ongoing Ebola preparedness measures in the country, including infection prevention and control. Everything possible must be done to avoid a further spread of the deadly virus.”
