Current Affairs - Miscellaneous - Discussion

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)" in the emergency committee meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland. This is for the 5th time WHO has invoked an emergency provision. The DRC is in grip of its worst-ever Ebola outbreak, which is the 2nd deadliest Ebola epidemic in history, behind only the 2014 West Africa outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people. This outbreak in Congo had begun in August 2018 and has mainly affected North Kivu and Ituri provinces in eastern DRC, an area wracked by conflict involving various armed groups. Efforts to control the virus in DRC are hampered by violence from insurgent groups, including attacks on treatment centres.