"Good morning, good afternoon and good evening.

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Last week I travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where I had the honour of meeting with His Excellency President Félix Tshisekedi, and other leaders and partners.

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Together we assessed the response to the Ebola epidemic in the country’s northeast, and how to address the challenges we face.

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I very much welcome the President’s leadership and commitment to doing everything he can to bring this outbreak under control.

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It is already the second-biggest Ebola epidemic on record, and it is moving faster than any previous Ebola outbreak.

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At its current pace, it is on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016.

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Officially, 4449 confirmed cases have been reported, with 2061 deaths across five provinces and 53 health zones.

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The outbreak had a big head start, it is still way ahead of us, and we are playing catch-up.

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About 90% of all cases and 80% of deaths are in the province of Ituri, with sustained transmission in the towns of Bunia, Rwampara, Nizi and Lita.

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Most concerningly, we see a high proportion of deaths in communities instead of treatment units, outside of known contact lists.

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That tells us there are chains of transmission we don’t know about, and until we know about – and break – every chain of transmission, we will not stop the outbreak.

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Most transmission happens when people have late-stage disease and are not in treatment, or when their body is handled after they have died.

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Early clinical care and safe and dignified burials are therefore critical for interrupting transmission.

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And both depend on the trust of affected communities, which means community engagement and community ownership are essential. There is no other way.

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So under the leadership of the government, we are now scaling up every part of the response, with the primary goal of interrupting transmission.

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Surveillance is our priority operational challenge.

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With partners, we are mapping and pooling resources to strengthen community-based surveillance, to bring every suspected case into care and reach the 95% contact-tracing target needed to interrupt transmission — today we are at around 80%.

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We are also tripling treatment capacity, with a goal of 3000 beds within 12 weeks.

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We also need to recruit and train three health workers for every patient. That’s thousands more than we have at the moment.

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Although we face many challenges, we have also made significant progress.

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More than 21 000 community health workers have been trained.

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Treatment centres, safe burial teams, laboratories and community engagement are operating across the affected provinces, reaching hundreds of thousands of people;

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And 886 patients have recovered, even without specific therapeutics and vaccines, which are progressing in trials.

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For the first time, two vaccines specifically designed against Bundibugyo virus have now entered phase one safety trials in humans.

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In addition, two new animal studies of the vaccine against Zaire ebolavirus – the more common species – have shown promising evidence of cross protection in animals.

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On that basis, WHO has recommended inclusion of the vaccine in a phase three trial, which we hope to start as soon as possible.

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We do not know whether this vaccine is efficacious against Bundibugyo disease in humans.

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The phase three trial is the best way to ensure a safe and effective vaccine is available as soon as possible for this and future outbreaks.

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We call on all partners to support and accelerate this trial.

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At the same time, we are moving rapidly to generate evidence on treatments.

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The WHO-sponsored PARTNERS trial has now reached the milestone of 100 patients.

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This trial demonstrates that, even in the midst of a challenging outbreak, it is possible to mobilize research rapidly and responsibly.

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None of this work is done by WHO alone, or the government alone, or Africa CDC alone. It is all of us, working together as one – but special thanks to the United States and the United Kingdom.

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The challenge ahead is implementing these interventions at the scale and speed required to get ahead of the outbreak   – and that depends on financing.

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Of the US$ 518 million required for the Continental Preparedness and Response Plan, US$ 264 million, or just over half, has been disbursed.

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We need financing that is timely, impactful and sustainable.

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And we also need access and security in the affected areas to ensure the response can operate safely and effectively, because as you know the eastern DRC is marked with active armed conflict.

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I would especially like to thank all the health workers who are putting themselves at risk every day to save lives and stop the outbreak.

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Earlier this week, the government of the United States announced a significant change in its policy for childhood vaccination.

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Every parent wants to keep their children safe, and vaccines are among the most powerful tools for doing that.

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WHO is concerned that the changes to immunization policy in the U.S. are not aligned with the best science.

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Decades of evidence have shown when children are most vulnerable to disease, when vaccines provide the strongest protection, how many doses are needed, and which vaccines can safely be given together.

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That evidence is reviewed continuously as new data emerge from across the globe.

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And the current evidence is unequivocal: vaccines – including the MMR vaccine – are safe and do not cause autism.

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Delaying vaccines or separating doses unnecessarily does not make vaccination safer, and can leave children unprotected.

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Vaccination policy should be guided by rigorous, independent and transparent review of the best available science, not by political influence.

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Finally, today is International Youth Day.

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Young people are on average the healthiest part of society, but are at particular risk of health threats including mental health conditions, loneliness, violence and road traffic crashes.

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Addressing their health needs is essential to achieving health for all.

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Over the past nine years, WHO has made a concerted effort to include the voices and ideas of young people in our work, as part of the WHO Transformation.

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We recognize young people not just as beneficiaries of our work, but as critical partners in achieving global health goals.

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That’s why in 2023 we launched the WHO Youth Council, a network to advise WHO and ensure that youth voices are not only heard but are instrumental in influencing policy and actions.

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Through the Youth Council, WHO aims to co-create solutions that are youth-led, youth-driven, and tailored to their specific health needs.

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We’re committed to capacity-building opportunities, including mentorship programmes for young people from diverse regions and backgrounds, with a particular emphasis on underserved areas. . . . "