Congo-Kinshasa: Why Declaring Ebola a Public Health Emergency Isn't a Silver Bullet

analysis

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. It took the decision based on International Health Regulations agreed in 2005. These require the WHO to declare an emergency when a public health event, such as an outbreak, becomes extraordinary because it constitutes a risk to other countries, and when a coordinated international response is required.

The emergency committee from the WHO - which is responsible for taking this decision - has met four times since the outbreak was declared in the DRC's North Kivu region on 1 August 2018. During the last meeting in June the committee decided that the outbreak didn't constitute a public health emergency of international concern.

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