The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has mobilised a specialist team to support international efforts to contain the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), reinforcing the UK’s role in global health security.
Seven public health experts from the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) have been deployed across the region, working alongside the World Health Organization (WHO) and national partners to strengthen outbreak response capabilities on the ground.
The UK-PHRST, established in the wake of the 2014–2015 West Africa Ebola crisis, is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) through Official Development Assistance (ODA). The programme is designed to support low- and middle-income countries in preparing for and responding to infectious disease threats.
The current deployment builds on a strong track record. Over the past nine years, the team has conducted more than 50 deployments worldwide, including 10 separate missions to Eastern DRC during the 2018–2019 North Kivu outbreak.
In this latest response:
- Four specialists will operate in Eastern DRC, supporting WHO-led field operations across infection prevention and control, epidemiology, and risk communication and community engagement (RCCE)
- An additional RCCE expert will be based in the WHO country office in Kinshasa
- One epidemiologist has been deployed to the Republic of the Congo to assist regional surveillance and response efforts
- A data modelling expert will provide remote analytical support
The deployment follows formal requests through the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), underlining the UK’s continued collaboration with WHO, UNICEF and other international partners.
Alongside the operational response, UKHSA has announced a significant expansion of the academic partnership underpinning the UK-PHRST.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) will lead a new multi-institutional consortium, supported by DHSC and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The £18 million, five-year programme will focus on applied research to strengthen epidemic preparedness and response across Africa and Southeast Asia.
Key research themes include:
- Equity and gender considerations in outbreak response
- Mental health and psychosocial support in crisis settings
- Advances in diagnostics and detection
- AI-assisted decision-making in public health emergencies
- Community-led engagement strategies
The partnership is designed to deepen collaboration between UK institutions and low- and middle-income country partners, with a strong emphasis on shared leadership and locally driven solutions.
The UK government has also committed up to £21 million to support the DRC’s Ebola response, aimed at strengthening local capacity, protecting frontline healthcare workers and safeguarding vulnerable communities.
Health Innovation and Safety Minister, Preet Kaur Gill, said:
“The faster we help contain this outbreak at source, the safer people are. Infectious diseases do not respect borders, and the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team exists precisely to respond at speed, with the right expertise, before outbreaks spread further.
“This team is exactly the kind of world-leading capability we should be proud of – built on nearly a decade of expertise, it puts the right people in the right place at the right time.
“The renewal and expansion of this partnership is significant and will keep the UK acting where it matters – responding to outbreaks and building the local capacity needed to protect people here at home and around the world.”
In parallel, the Minister for Africa and International Development attended a high-level meeting on 16 June with African leaders, the WHO Director-General and Africa Centres for Disease Prevention leadership to strengthen regional preparedness and coordination.
UKHSA has confirmed that it continues to monitor the situation closely, and that the risk to the UK public remains very low.
Image credit: iStock
