AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is warning that the current Ebola crisis highlights persistent weaknesses in the world’s ability to respond quickly and equitably to emerging infectious disease threats, as Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confront a rapidly evolving outbreak.
Dr Samuel Kinyanjui, AHF Kenya Country Director on Wednesday in Nairobi, noted that even as countries confront another deadly outbreak, negotiations at the World Health Assembly have failed to finalise the proposed Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) Annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement, reportedly due to continued disagreements over equity and benefit-sharing obligations.
"The delay effectively places the broader Pandemic Agreement framework on hold at a moment when the need for international cooperation and clear accountability mechanisms is once again being tested in real time," said Kinyanjui.
"When Ebola crosses from Ituri Province into Kampala, it does not stop to check whether Kenya has a preparedness plan on paper or a functioning one in practice. We are 800 kilometres from the epicentre and one bus ride from an imported case," Kinyanjui added.
According to AHF, the new Ebola Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccines or therapeutics and has killed over 130 people across the two countries, even as WHO Pandemic Agreement talks stall and Kenya activates border screening for 34,500 travellers
The Bundibugyo species has a historic case fatality rate of between 25% and 50%, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 16 May, while the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention designated it a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS).
AHF emphasises that Ebola is once again exposing the consequences of a fragmented global health system, where frontline countries are expected to rapidly detect, report, and contain dangerous pathogens while negotiations over equitable access to diagnostics, treatments, vaccines, technology transfer, and financing remain unresolved.
As governments continue debating equity provisions in Geneva, the outbreak serves as a real-world reminder that global health security cannot function without trust, cooperation, and enforceable commitments that apply to all countries equally.
Kenya’s Ministry of Health has activated enhanced surveillance, constituted a National Ebola Preparedness Team, and screened more than 34,500 travellers at airports, seaports, and land borders as of 18 May 2026.