The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s 17th Ebola outbreak highlights the close links between health system capacity, community trust and epidemic preparedness. In a context of conflict, displacement and declining health aid, misinformation is undermining the response, deterring people from seeking care and fuelling violence against health workers. For the EU, the outbreak underscores the need to address information integrity and community engagement as integral components of global health resilience.
In our new brief, No resilience without trust: What the DRC Ebola outbreak means for Global Health, we examine the implications for EU policy, including the implementation of the Global Health Resilience Initiative and negotiations on the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework. It calls on EU policymakers to ensure sustained investment in frontline health services, trusted community engagement and efforts to counter health misinformation, embedding these priorities in the EU’s external health financing and preparedness agenda.
© European Union, World Health Organization (WHO), 2019, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
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