WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has reconvened an Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 Emergency Committee on Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Committee will meet on 17 July, 2019, in Geneva from 12 midday, to ascertain whether the ongoing outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern and what recommendations should be made to manage the outbreak. This will be the fourth meeting of the committee convened to review this outbreak. The first took place on 17 October 2018.
The Committee’s advice will be made public on WHO’s website and via a press conference (details below).
Background on the Ebola virus disease outbreak in Eastern DRC
On 1 August 2018, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in North Kivu Province. This is the tenth outbreak of Ebola virus disease over the last four decades in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The DRC Ministry of Health, WHO, other UN -organizations, nongovernmental organizations and many partners have been responding to the outbreak since August 2018.
WHAT: Virtual press conference (VPC) for journalists. An audio file of the press conference will be distributed to journalists shortly after the conference ends. A transcript will follow.
WHEN: 17 July, 2019 at 19:00 GENEVA time
WHERE: Geneva-based, UN-accredited journalists may attend the press conference in person at WHO, Geneva. All journalists may dial in (see dialling information below). It will also be broadcast via Twitter on @WHO.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO).
