Ebola outbreak seen as “dress rehearsal” for future pandemic – FT

An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being described as a “dress rehearsal” for a new global pandemic, as international funding for global health declines rapidly and public trust in science and multilateral solutions weakens, according to the Financial Times (FT).

“This outbreak exists on the faultlines of the new global health system,” Thomas Bollyky, director of the Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, said. He noted that while doctors and scientists know how to respond to such emergencies, the institutions and public support they rely on have become more fragile than in recent years.

“We are in a much worse place because of the hostility to public health and global health that now exists after Covid. If ever there was a time for the world to have a success with global health, that time is now,” he added.

The FT noted that under US President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is known for vaccine scepticism, global health frameworks are “under pressure, if not outright assault.”

The United States, long a leading financial and intellectual force behind global health progress, has stepped back. This year, Washington withdrew from the World Health Organisation (WHO) with $260 million in unpaid contributions.

At the same time, several European countries have also reduced aid spending.

The report added that the spreading Ebola outbreak in Congo is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, identified only in two previous Ebola outbreaks. Existing diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines are not effective against this strain, making detection and containment significantly more difficult.

By Jeyhun Aghazada