This week in Africa, the Ebola virus disease outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain in the Democratic Republic of Congo passed the 100-day mark. Four African heads of state and the director general of Africa CDC called on the international community to step up its response in an open letter. In Ethiopia, African health ministers adopted three 10-year strategies covering health financing, the health workforce and medical regulation. Uganda went 42 days without a new Ebola case, formally ending its outbreak. And a study published in Nature Medicine found that a training and support program in maternity wards across sub-Saharan Africa reduced early perinatal mortality by 22%.
Addis Ababa: Three 10-Year Strategies for African Health Systems
This week, the 76th session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for Africa (RC76) brought together delegates from 47 member states from August 25 to 27 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meeting resulted in the adoption of three major strategies for the 2026-2035 period.
The health workforce strategy calls for African countries to plan for, train, employ and retain an additional 3 million health workers by 2035. Africa currently has only about 46% of the health workforce it needs and could face a shortage of more than 6 million health workers by 2035 without decisive action. The strategy also highlights a striking mismatch: about 1 million trained health professionals are unemployed even as health facilities face staffing shortages. The WHO estimates that every dollar invested in the health workforce can generate up to $10 in economic benefits.
The Health Financing Strategy 2026-2035 comes as 385 million people in the region are pushed into poverty each year because of medical expenses. Out-of-pocket payments account for an average of 35% of health spending, compared with a WHO target of 20%. In many low-income countries, debt servicing exceeds public health spending. The strategy sets a target for 56% of member states to sustain increases in public health spending by 2035. The Medical Products Regulation Strategy 2026-2035 aims to bring more national regulatory authorities up to WHO maturity level 3. It also supports the African Medicines Agency and the expansion of digital regulatory systems.
Maternal Health: ALERT Program Cuts Perinatal Mortality by 22%
A study led by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and published August 26 in Nature Medicine found that a combination of training, quality-of-care improvements and leadership support across 16 maternity wards in sub-Saharan Africa was associated with a 22% reduction in early perinatal deaths, defined as stillbirths or deaths within the first 24 hours of life, and a 19% reduction in complications linked to oxygen deprivation in newborns. The study covered 134,630 women and 139,300 newborns in Benin, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda.
The ALERT program begins with a co-design phase involving women, families and health workers to identify barriers to care. Targeted training for midwives, support for continuous quality improvement and mentoring for maternity ward managers are also part of the program, which is supported by a digital perinatal registry.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s highest number of stillbirths. About 1 million babies are born without signs of life each year, and the risk of death during childbirth is about 40 times higher than in Europe. Professor Claudia Hanson, the study’s principal investigator, said the findings showed that improving the quality of care can reduce newborn mortality even in resource-constrained settings.
Ebola in DRC: More Than 100 Days, Over 5,200 Cases and Transmission Out of Control
More than 100 days after the Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease outbreak was declared on May 15, the DRC has recorded more than 5,200 confirmed cases and more than 2,500 deaths. The daily average stood at about 90 confirmed cases during the first three months, a pace significantly higher than at comparable stages of the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak and the 2018-2020 DRC outbreak.
Ituri province in the country’s northeast remains the epicenter, accounting for about 85% of cases and 79% of deaths. Deaths in the community, meaning deaths outside Ebola treatment centers, account for about 60% of the 260 weekly deaths recorded over the past six weeks, a persistent sign that case detection and referral remain inadequate.
Testing, Treatment and Contact Tracing Improve
The response has improved in several areas over the past three months. The number of laboratory sites increased from one to 19, with capacity to process more than 3,000 samples a day. Treatment capacity rose from fewer than 10 beds to more than 1,300. More than 900 health facilities received infection prevention and control support. Community engagement activities reached more than 2.5 million people. Contact tracing increased from 9% in the first week to 84% as of August 18.
The first molecular diagnostic test listed for emergency use for Bundibugyo virus disease was also deployed. WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak could be brought under control through stronger community-level action led by national, provincial and local authorities and backed by adequate resources.
Four African Presidents and Africa CDC Call for Faster Support
In an open letter published August 26, Presidents Félix Tshisekedi of the DRC, Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic, Évariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, together with Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, the African Union’s health agency, highlighted a troubling gap between pledged funding and money reaching the response.
International donors have pledged nearly $1.2 billion, but only about $816 million has reportedly been disbursed. Surveillance teams are struggling to reach exposed populations, and some communities still lack access to certain treatments.
The signatories called for faster disbursement procedures and greater transparency over funding, including where the money comes from, where it goes, when it arrives and what it achieves. They also called for funding aligned with national response plans and regional coordination efforts.
Cross-border surveillance, stronger laboratory capacity and the deployment of emergency teams are among the priorities cited. The letter highlights cross-border movement in the region and the need for stronger cooperation among states to prevent the virus from spreading across national borders.
Uganda: Ebola Outbreak Officially Ends After 42 Days Without a Case
In neighboring Uganda, authorities reached 42 consecutive days without a new confirmed Ebola case on August 27, after the last confirmed case was recorded on July 16. The 42-day period is twice the maximum incubation period for the virus and is the standard used to confirm that transmission chains linked to the last case have been interrupted.
Over the course of the outbreak declared on May 15, Uganda recorded a total of 20 confirmed cases of Bundibugyo virus disease, including 15 imported from the DRC and five resulting from local transmission among contacts of imported cases and health workers. The WHO director general said Uganda had shown that Ebola outbreaks can be brought under control quickly through decisive action, citing preparedness, stronger surveillance and tight controls at points of entry as key factors.
Mauritius: Nearly 7,000 Chikungunya Cases Since January as Outbreak Declines
The chikungunya outbreak in Mauritius, declared in early January 2026, had reached 6,868 confirmed cases as of August 16, including 6,769 on the main island and 99 on Rodrigues. Only 13 new cases were recorded during the week of August 9 to 16, well below the levels recorded at the outbreak’s peak. No deaths have been reported. Health authorities are maintaining enhanced surveillance through daily mapping of outbreak clusters, larviciding operations and community communication campaigns.
The decline comes as Mauritius prepares to participate in clinical trials for the ACT-CHIK project under the chikungunya program launched by the Institut Pasteur in June 2026, which aims to develop a vaccine accessible to populations in endemic areas.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
