Millions of Ebola dollars missing with staff unpaid while virus spreads, charity says

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a medical charity, has warned that hundreds of millions of dollars meant to combat the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are not reaching their intended recipients. MSF's report highlights that frontline workers remain unpaid, lack proper training, and face shortages of essential supplies. The outbreak, which began in May, has claimed over 5,400 lives and infected 11,000 people in the DRC, making it the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded.

Despite the extensive funding provided for the response, many frontline responders struggle with "empty hands and empty pockets," MSF claims. The charity also points out that surveillance teams exist on paper but are not present in the field, while monitoring "surveillance teams that exist on paper but are nowhere to be seen on the ground." One crucial method for controlling Ebola spread is contact tracing, but MSF reports that two-thirds of deaths are occurring in communities without treatment centers.

The charity urges the Congolese government and UN agencies to improve oversight and accountability to ensure money is effectively utilized, emphasizing the need for trained, paid, and equipped personnel. MSF also criticizes the "excessive concentration" of efforts in certain areas, such as North Kivu province, while neglecting others like Haut-Uélé, which remains "dramatically overlooked."

Both provinces face inadequate resource allocation and insufficient health facilities equipped with essential items like water, chlorine, or triage systems, turning them into new centers of transmission.