Medical charity warns millions in Ebola funds missing as virus spreads

A medical charity has issued a report warning that millions of dollars intended for the Ebola response are unaccounted for while the virus continues to spread. The organisation stated that despite the vast amounts of money provided for the response, many frontline responders are left trying to contain the outbreak with empty hands and empty pockets.

The charity highlighted that some Ebola monitoring surveillance teams exist on paper but are nowhere to be seen on the ground. MSF president Javid Abdelmoneim said that their teams are often left speechless by the dysfunctions they witness in many areas, adding that six months into the response, this situation is simply unacceptable.

Contact tracing remains an essential method for stopping the spread of Ebola, yet MSF noted that surveillance remains deeply problematic despite the resources officially allocated to this critical activity. The charity added that two-thirds of deaths were occurring in communities rather than in treatment centres. According to British epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, more than half of the cases are going undetected, which suggests the outbreak is likely to last another year.

MSF also raised concerns regarding the excessive concentration of efforts in certain locations while other areas with more urgent needs are neglected. The charity stated that the response was too slow in North Kivu province, while Haut-Uélé remained dramatically overlooked. In these provinces, MSF observed that teams were inadequately resourced to respond effectively, with health facilities lacking essential items such as water, chlorine or triage systems.

The charity warned that this has turned some facilities into new centres of transmission, rather than places of care that contribute to containing the disease.