As the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in the world comes to an end in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the focus is shifting towards assessing how the response operations were carried out and what can be improved in the future.
In total, 3,470 people were infected and 2,287 died from the haemorrhagic fever, after the outbreak was first announced in August 2018. In mid-2019, it was declared a public health emergency of international concern.
In a statement on Thursday, the World Health Organisation congratulated everyone involved in "the arduous and often dangerous work required to end the outbreak", but stressed the need for vigilance. "Continuing to support survivors and maintaining strong surveillance and response systems in order to contain potential flare-ups is critical in the months to come," it said.
The response to the outbreak on the ground was a joint effort by aid organisations and UN agencies, costing hundreds of millions of dollars. The announcement that it was over came shortly after new allegations about the level of corruption involved.
Corruption
The first person put in charge of the Ebola response was the then DRC health minister Oly Ilunga, who was later arrested and sentenced to five years hard labour for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars, a charge he denied.
An investigation by thean aid-sector focused news organisation T, the New Humanitarian, has since found further evidence of misuse of funds, including millions of dollars paid to Congolese security forces by the UN, allegedly without the required due diligence to make sure the money wouldn't contribute to human rights abuses.
"I've never seen as much embezzlement and money inadequately allocated as I've seen in this epidemic," Gary Kobinger, a WHO expert adviser, told the New Humanitarian.
There have also been allegations of sexual exploitation. A January 2020 gender analysis report by the charity CAREare found "many indications that men in decision-making roles [in the Ebola response] have used their position of power to subject women to sexual abuse as an employment pre-requisite or prior to receiving their salary".
A leaked review by Adam Smith International, an aid consultancy, which was funded with a grant from Britain's Department for International Development, also found corruption had undermined the response, with vehicles being rented at "exceptionally" high prices, without proper negotiations.
Donor funding was being siphoned off and vulnerable people missing out on help because of it, the review said.
The eastern DRC Ebola outbreak was the 10th outbreak in that country in 40 years, and the first globally to take place in a conflict zone. An 11th outbreak was declared on June 1st in Mbandaka, a town in the northwest of the country, and has killed at least 11 people so far.
