UK accelerates support for efforts to stop Ebola outbreak at source

• UK steps up support for affected communities and frontline workers with £50 million package

• Accelerated support comes as outbreak risks becoming deadliest on record

• Africa Minister Kirsty McNeill announced measures on Parliament’s first day back

Thousands of vulnerable people will be supported by a new package of UK funding designed to help tackle the growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

FCDO Minister for Africa, Kirsty McNeill, has today announced more than £50 million to support efforts to contain the disease, save lives and reduce the risk of further international spread – taking the full UK contribution to £78 million.

This comes as the largest Ebola outbreak in the DRC’s history continues to spread, on course to become the deadliest and most extensive Ebola epidemic ever recorded. This spread is against a backdrop of conflict, displacement and severe humanitarian need, compounding the risk of catastrophe on an unprecedented scale, increasing the urgency of international action. 

The new UK package will help strengthen disease surveillance, support frontline health workers, improve infection prevention and control, expand access to treatment, strengthen community engagement and support safe and dignified burials. 

On her first appearance at the Despatch Box after Parliament returned, Minister for Africa Kirsty McNeill announced these measures, demonstrating the importance the UK Government attaches to tackling the outbreak.

Minister for Africa Kirsty McNeill said:

Families across the DRC are living through unimaginable loss as Ebola tears through communities, claiming lives, and leaving thousands more fighting for survival.

We know that speed saves lives, which is why we were amongst the first to commit support and experts to the region, but as the outbreak intensifies, we are accelerating our response to match the pace and scale of the challenge.

The UK is already supporting the regional response through partnerships with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the World Health Organization, the United Nations and humanitarian organisations working on the front line. British public health experts have also been deployed across the region to support surveillance, infection prevention, community engagement and outbreak preparedness. 

Notes to Editors

• The £51m package announced today consists of:

  • £40m from humanitarian crisis and contingency funding and unallocated spend

  • £11m in re-allocation from existing FCDO allocations