MSF Says Ebola Funds in Congo Are Not Reaching Intended Recipients
Médecins Sans Frontières says hundreds of millions of dollars meant for Congo's Ebola response are not reaching the intended recipients. Frontline workers are unpaid and short of supplies, while more than 5,400 people have died since May, the charity said.
Hundreds of millions of dollars meant to tackle Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo are not reaching the intended recipients, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned in a report published on November 12, 2026.
MSF said the outbreak remains "out of control". Frontline workers are going unpaid, lack proper training and face shortages of essential supplies. In some cases, ambulances have run out of fuel.
More than 5,400 people have died and 11,000 have been infected since the outbreak was declared in May. It is the second-most deadly Ebola outbreak ever recorded.
MSF urged the Congolese government and UN agencies to "strengthen oversight and accountability" so money already disbursed is used effectively.
That means making sure response staff are properly trained, paid, equipped and supported, and directing resources to the areas of greatest need, the charity said.
The warning follows concerns raised last month by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). It said $700m (£527m) of the $962m disbursed to organizations carrying out the Ebola response was unaccounted for.
Africa CDC chief Jean Kaseya said it was too early to call it embezzlement. He described it as a major transparency and financial reporting failure.
Congo's Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said aid agencies must give the ministry details of their work so it can provide oversight, but only 22% had done so. "Our requirement is clear: transparency must be total," he said on X.
In its report, MSF said "many frontline responders are left trying to contain the outbreak with empty hands and empty pockets". It also described surveillance teams "that exist on paper but are nowhere to be seen on the ground".
Contact tracing is a key way to stop Ebola spreading. Health workers find everyone who has been in touch with an infected person and isolate them. MSF said surveillance remains "deeply problematic" despite the resources officially allocated, and that two-thirds of deaths are happening in communities rather than treatment centers.
British epidemiologist Neil Ferguson says more than half of cases are going undetected. That means the outbreak is likely to last another year, according to his estimate.
MSF also criticized an "excessive concentration" of effort in some areas at the expense of others with more urgent needs. It said the response was "too slow" in North Kivu province, while Haut-Uélé province was "dramatically overlooked".
In both provinces, teams were "inadequately resourced to respond effectively". Health facilities lack items such as water, chlorine or triage systems. MSF said this has "turned some facilities into new centres of transmission".
The epicenter is in eastern Congo, which has been wracked by conflict for decades, with some affected areas under rebel control. There are very few good roads. The UN and the Congolese government have also warned that the worst-hit areas face a severe food crisis, with almost 10 million people in the region in dire need.
"Our teams are often left speechless by the dysfunctions they witness in many areas. Six months into the response, this situation is simply unacceptable," said MSF president Javid Abdelmoneim.
