The World Health Organization (WHO) head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced on Monday from Geneva that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is rapidly spreading. This statement was made during the WHO executive board meeting, which followed the World Health Assembly. Notably, the United States, which had withdrawn from the WHO at the beginning of 2026 due to criticisms of its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, was absent from the assembly. Despite this, Tedros highlighted the organization's progress, stating, “The restructuring has now been completed, the Organization is more stable, and we are moving forward.”

During the assembly, Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, shed light on the severe challenges posed by the Ebola outbreak. He emphasized the difficult epidemiological context, noting the absence of licensed vaccines or treatments for the current Bundibugyo strain. Fletcher detailed the extreme operating environments in the region, characterized by conflict and high population movement, which complicate the UN’s life-saving work. He stressed the critical need for secure and sustained access for frontline responders, including to areas controlled by armed groups, and insisted that there must be no obstruction to response efforts across all routes – air, land, and water. Fletcher also expressed gratitude for the United States’ swift financial contribution to support the Ebola response, despite its earlier withdrawal from the organization. To bolster efforts, more staff from key UN agencies and partners were deployed to the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan over the weekend, with Fletcher paying tribute to the communities and humanitarians working tirelessly to contain the outbreak.

At Monday's meeting, Tedros welcomed the new members of the WHO executive committee, which include representatives from Bhutan, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Georgia, Guinea, Kuwait, Mozambique, South Sudan, Suriname, and the United Kingdom, with four of these new members hailing from African countries.

Beyond the immediate crisis, broader health trends and disparities were discussed. Alex Beauvais, director of Impact and Insights at the McKinsey Health Institute in London, shared insights from studies conducted by his group, including in three African countries. He revealed that while people are living longer, this does not always translate into healthier lives. A report issued by the institute on May 13 highlighted a significant "women’s health gap," finding that women globally spend over 25 percent more of their lives in poor health compared to men, on average. McKinsey attributed a third of this gap to the failure to deliver consistent, high-quality healthcare for women.

Beauvais cited examples from South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria, where life expectancy has increased markedly over the past century due to improvements in communicable disease control, maternal and child health, vaccination, antibiotics, sanitation, nutrition, and overall health-system capacity. However, he cautioned that a material gap persists between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in these nations, meaning many years are still lived with disease or disability. He underscored that continued health investment is vital not only for individual well-being but also for human capital, productivity, and economic resilience. Globally, data suggests that investing in known health interventions could add nine years of healthy life by 2050, representing a colossal $12.5 trillion economic opportunity.

Valentina Sartori, also from the McKinsey Health Institute, based in Zurich, further elaborated on the economic implications of the gender health gap. She stated that closing the women’s health gap globally could contribute approximately $1 trillion annually to the global economy by 2040. In Africa, specific health burdens contribute significantly to this gap, with cardiovascular diseases being the leading cause across all countries, followed by cancer, gynaecological disease, and maternal and newborn disorders. In both Egypt and South Africa, cardiovascular disease remains the top therapeutic area exacerbating the health burden gap. In Nigeria, intestinal infections, neglected tropical diseases, and maternal and newborn disorders are the top three contributors to this gap, highlighting diverse health challenges across the continent.