Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: Ebola Outbreak

Lord Hannay of Chiswick Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

We have already allocated £1 million, plus we have up to another £20 million through the team in Kinshasa. We are working closely with colleagues in Kampala. There have been two cases. Reassuringly, the other suspected cases have tested negative. We are working closely with the Government in Uganda to support them. They are also offering to support the Government in Kinshasa in addressing this outbreak. We are working closely with CDC and the WHO. We are the lead partner co-ordinating donors. As my noble friend said, it is an extremely difficult part of the world in which to operate and respond to these kinds of deadly outbreaks, but we are working with partners and those on the ground to do that.

[Lord Hannay of Chiswick (CB)]

My Lords, what progress has been made towards the negotiation of a pandemic convention by the World Health Organization? Does the Minister not agree that some of the characteristics of the draft pandemic convention, on early warning and working together to develop vaccines, are extremely relevant to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I agree with that, and we are working closely with the WHO. On vaccine development, no vaccine is currently able to be deployed against this particular strain, but work is going on at speed to examine the utilisation of vaccines that have already been developed and tested, and whether they may be effective against this strain. The noble Lord will also understand the complexity and difficulty of distributing and administering vaccine in this context.