Question 16282 — foreign policy

Summary

Ms Anna Pic alerts the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs to the particularly worrying health situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country which is facing a resurgence of the Ebola virus. Officially identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 15, 2026, this new epidemic episode has already caused, in less than a month, nearly a hundred deaths. In fact, as of June 8 2026, health authorities reported 608 infected people and 102 confirmed deaths, to which were added 259 suspicious deaths still under investigation. Furthermore, between June 4 and 5 alone, more than a hundred new cases were recorded, illustrating the speed of spread of the epidemic. This situation is all the more worrying as no vaccine or specific treatment is available. currently available against the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, responsible for the return of the epidemic to Central African countries. It also intervenes in an already extremely fragile context, marked by persistent armed conflicts in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where nearly a million displaced people live in overcrowded camps. This same region had already been affected in 2025 by one of the most serious cholera epidemics recorded in 25 years according to the United Nations. Thus, the current health crisis is superimposed on a pre-existing humanitarian and security crisis. Local sources also affirm that the pressure exerted on the health system has increased further in recent days since several health centers have had to close temporarily in order to be disinfected, considerably reducing capacities. care for the population suffering from other pathologies. The urgent reorganization of health services intended to deal with Ebola would therefore result in a restriction of access to routine care. Despite the mobilization of the WHO and humanitarian organizations such as the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, the international response still appears insufficient given the scale of the crisis and the reduction in international funding dedicated to humanitarian aid and global health. Indeed, following the budget cuts decided by several major contributors in 2025, notably the United States of America, the WHO is facing a reduction of more than 40% of its resources. Therefore, in a context of resurgence of Ebola, this drop in funding raises serious concerns about the capacities of the community international community to effectively prevent and contain epidemics as well as to learn lessons from recent health crises. While the covid-19 pandemic had given rise to numerous commitments to strengthen international cooperation and preparedness for pandemics, the financial and operational resources mobilized remain clearly insufficient in the face of a new major epidemic threat. So, she asks what initiatives the Government intends to take, on the diplomatic, humanitarian and health levels, to support the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo and international organizations to deal with the spread of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus and what actions it intends to take to reaffirm its commitment to global health.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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