On the margins of the High-Level Week of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, the U.S. Department of State announced an additional $267 million in direct life-saving health and humanitarian assistance to combat the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The new funding fulfils part of the U.S. government's commitment made at the G7 Leaders' Summit to provide up to an additional $500 million for Ebola response efforts.
Scale-Up of Operational Support
The additional funding is directed at concrete frontline measures: the construction of new Ebola treatment units, deployment of additional safe and dignified burial teams, mass procurement of personal protective equipment, expanded surveillance, procurement of critical health commodities, and expanded contact tracing through established implementing partners.
Cumulative U.S. Commitment
With this pledge, total U.S. government health and humanitarian assistance for the outbreak reaches $887 million, of which the Department of State accounts for more than $780 million. Funding already disbursed through the Department has supported the supply of 292 metric tons of humanitarian supplies to outbreak zones, 8.6 million health screenings across affected and at-risk countries, delivery of 184,000 pieces of critical disease prevention equipment, the operationalisation of 23 specialised Ebola treatment centres, and support to 235 health facilities in outbreak areas.
Separately, $350 million in critical humanitarian assistance has been provided to the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan, as part of a broader $1.8 billion contribution to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced on 14 May.
Response Timeline and Partners
The Department activated a response plan and mobilised life-saving foreign assistance within 48 hours of the first reports of Ebola in the DRC in May 2026, which it describes as the fastest U.S. response to Ebola. The Department is coordinating with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and working in partnership with the governments of the DRC, Uganda, and other countries in the region. The response builds on a five-year global health Memorandum of Understanding with the DRC, signed in February under the Trump Administration's America First Global Health Strategy.
Designating the United States as the largest health and humanitarian provider to the outbreak, the State Department called on other capable nations to increase burden sharing to meet the urgency of the situation.
This article is based on a verified primary source. The text was editorially reviewed and fact-checked prior to publication.
