Democratic Republic of Congo: Despite the Ebola disease outbreak, other health emergencies must not be neglected
Measles, cholera, malaria and conflict intensify amidst the Ebola disease outbreak.
While the response to the Ebola disease outbreak is mobilizing significant resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns of the need to maintain care and funding for other health crises in the east of the country to prevent a worsening humanitarian situation. Cholera, measles, malaria and violence linked to the ongoing conflict, among others, continue to threaten thousands of people in North and South Kivu.
Since the Ebola disease outbreak was declared in May, media attention and resources have focused largely on the response to this emergency. While this mobilization is essential to contain the outbreak, it must not come at the expense of other health and humanitarian needs that persist in North and South Kivu.
“For the families we care for, there is no hierarchy between crises. Whether a child dies of measles or malaria, whether a person succumbs to cholera or Ebola disease, every life matters.”
Yvan Mbangi, MSF deputy medical coordinator in Goma
This outbreak is occurring in a context already marked by multiple health and humanitarian crises. Communities are living under the pressure of armed conflict. Repeated clashes cause displacement, interrupt vaccination campaigns, limit access to safe drinking water and make healthcare harder to access.
Added to this already fragile situation is the fear now associated with Ebola disease. In general, fear of exposure to the Ebola disease outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus can deter people from attending health facilities in provinces already affected by the outbreak. This fear could lead to delays in care or deaths, including from common diseases, thereby worsening situations that are otherwise preventable and further weakening access to primary healthcare.
“The Ebola disease outbreak is a major emergency, but it is not the only one,” says Joshua Eckley, MSF head of programs in South Kivu. “Every day, we receive patients suffering from various diseases, people injured in fighting and survivors of sexual violence. For these communities, all these emergencies coexist and require a simultaneous response. When basic healthcare is interrupted, more people risk dying from preventable diseases. It is essential to preserve continuity of care and access to primary healthcare in order to treat all other conditions.”
Measles and cholera are spreading in the east
While the Ebola disease outbreak draws most attention, other outbreaks are spreading in eastern DRC. According to official data, more than 108,643 suspected measles cases, with 1,394 deaths, were reported across the country from January to July 19, 2026. Nearly half of these cases — more than 50,827 — are concentrated in North and South Kivu. At the same time, the country has recorded more than 35,464 suspected cholera cases and more than 1,051 deaths. Of these notifications, 14,819 are concentrated in the two provinces.
MSF has mobilized the measles response in North and South Kivu, where teams have launched six interventions to curb the outbreaks. The most recent are still ongoing, taking place in Shabunda, South Kivu, and Walikale, North Kivu. Together, these interventions have already made it possible to treat more than 12,050 people and vaccinate more than 283,150 children.
At the same time, teams are facing a worrying resurgence of cholera. In Bukavu and Shabunda, South Kivu, MSF continues to care for people following a surge in cases recorded last year in the province. In Goma, teams were also mobilized to respond to a cholera outbreak between May and early August 2026. In total, more than 2,410 people with cholera have already been treated in MSF-supported facilities.
“For the families we care for, there is no hierarchy between crises,” says Yvan Mbangi, MSF deputy medical coordinator in Goma. “Whether a child dies of measles or malaria, whether a person succumbs to cholera or Ebola disease, every life matters.”
Beyond our response to Ebola disease, measles and cholera outbreaks, MSF continues to provide essential healthcare in Masisi, Mweso, Walikale, Bambo, Kibirizi, Kirotshe, Goma and Rutshuru in North Kivu, and in Minova, Bunyakiri and Uvira in South Kivu. But given the scale of the needs, this response remains largely inadequate. These crises require a much greater commitment from health authorities and humanitarian agencies to guarantee access to care for the communities in vulnerable circumstances.
Do not push other crises into the background
Available funding is decreasing despite increasing humanitarian needs. North Kivu could notably be excluded from the Global Fund’s next three-year funding cycle dedicated to the malaria response even though malaria remains the leading cause of morbidity in DRC, including in North Kivu. The displacement of communities caused by fighting forces many families to seek refuge in forests or isolated areas, where exposure to mosquitoes is greater and access to healthcare is particularly limited.
“We call on authorities, donors and all humanitarian agencies to maintain and strengthen their investments in all responses to the many and diverse needs of communities.”
Joshua Eckley, MSF head of programs in South Kivu
“We risk seeing a reduction in the resources dedicated to the disease that nevertheless kills the most people in this region,” says Mbangi. “It would be a tragic paradox: mobilizing considerable resources against one outbreak while weakening the response to a disease that continues to cause a far higher number of deaths every day.”
Years of conflict, massive displacement of people and chronic insecurity, as well as the severe reduction in humanitarian assistance funding, have drastically weakened the health system in North and South Kivu. Many health centres and hospitals are operating with reduced capacity due to a lack of staff, medicines and equipment, while others have had to suspend their activities because of violence. In several areas, hundreds of thousands of people remain without regular access to healthcare.
“While medical-humanitarian needs continue to grow in eastern DRC, we call on authorities, donors and all humanitarian agencies to maintain and strengthen their investments in all responses to the many and diverse needs of communities,” says Eckley. “It is vital that all emergencies be addressed simultaneously.”
