WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing – 16 July 2026
16 July 2026
Good afternoon to those in the room, and good morning, good afternoon and good evening to those online.
Yesterday marked two months since the Government of the DRC declared the epidemic of Ebola.
Since then, the outbreak has expanded rapidly.
It is now the third-largest Ebola outbreak on record, and in the past month, it has expanded faster than any previous outbreak.
So far, 2073 cases have been reported, with 796 deaths.
By comparison, the 2018-2019 Ebola outbreak in DRC took more than 10 months to reach 2000 confirmed cases.
Intense transmission in the province of Ituri remains our biggest concern.
More than 80 percent of new cases are being detected outside known contact lists, showing that transmission chains are still being missed.
About two-thirds of deaths are occurring in communities, among people who never receive care in a health facility.
Together with Africa CDC and other partners, WHO is supporting the government to scale up the response.
Treatment capacity now exceeds 800 beds and continues to increase;
Laboratory capacity has expanded from just one lab to 16;
Contact follow-up rates have increased to almost 80 percent;
More than 21 000 community workers are being trained;
And safe and dignified burials have improved significantly.
There is also encouraging progress on vaccines and therapeutics.
Earlier this month we began a clinical trial of two treatments, the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug remdesivir.
On Monday, the first safety trial began of the ChAdOx1 vaccine, led by the University of Oxford;
And on Tuesday this week, partners led by DRC’s National Institute for Biomedical Research launched a trial of the antiviral obeldesivir as post-exposure prophylaxis in people who have been in contact with confirmed cases, but have not yet developed disease.
Even without approved vaccines and treatments, 377 people have recovered, showing that with early diagnosis and safe care, this disease can be survived and stopped.
In Uganda, the last confirmed case is being discharged from care today, starting the 42-day countdown to the end of that country’s outbreak, with 20 cases and two deaths.
Despite the progress we have made, the outbreak in DRC is continuing to outpace the response.
Active armed conflict is hampering access to the affected areas, and hindering the response.
Just yesterday, a treatment centre in Bunia was attacked.
We face several technical challenges, but we also need political intervention to facilitate the scale-up in the response that we need.
Our priorities are to reduce transmission in Ituri by strengthening surveillance, safe and dignified burials, clinical management and community engagement;
And by strengthening response capacity in newly-affected provinces before transmission becomes established.
But to do this, we urgently need the support of the international community.
We still face a shortfall of more than US$ 400 million in the joint WHO-Africa CDC Continental Preparedness and Response Plan.
We urge donors to fill this gap, and to help us to control this outbreak as quickly as possible.
This is not charity, it’s an investment in national security.
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https://www.who.int/news-room/speec...-remarks-at-the-media-briefing---16-july-2026
