WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing – 16 September 2026

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening.

I have said before that the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had a big head start, and we were playing catch-up in the response.

We are now starting to see encouraging signs that we are gaining ground.

In the most affected parts of Ituri province, transmission is going down;

South Kivu has reported no new cases since May;

More than 1700 people have recovered;

And after four months, the epidemic has been contained mostly in northeastern DRC, with the exception of a small outbreak in Uganda that was swiftly stopped.

That is no accident. It is due to the leadership of the government of DRC, close partnership between WHO, Africa CDC and hundreds of partners, and the hard work of thousands of health workers and frontline responders.

Trials of treatments and post-exposure prophylaxis are picking up speed, due to increased community engagement;

And vaccine trials should begin in the coming weeks.

This is not just a scientific exercise. We are already preparing to expand access to products should they prove efficacious in trials.

But make no mistake. The epidemic continues to grow, and continues to kill.

More than 7200 cases have been reported, and over 3500 deaths, across seven provinces.

Although there are signs of reduced transmission in Ituri, it is reducing from a high level.

In the past week alone, around 300 new cases and 160 deaths were reported from Ituri - accounting for nearly half the national total.

In North Kivu, cases are rising fast. Over the past two weeks, the number of weekly cases has almost doubled, from about 100 to more than 200.

The area is so vast that it is hard to speak of a single epidemic.

It is many outbreaks, in many places. We must get the response right in every one of them.

There are major cities, such as Kisangani, home to 1.5 million people, and remote villages.

There are conflict-affected areas, mining zones, and sparsely populated land near the border with South Sudan.

In a region of very high population mobility, this outbreak can still spread.

It is an extraordinarily difficult place in which to work.

In many areas, roads are barely passable, and reaching people by small aircraft is often hard.

And while most Congolese people support the response, a small minority have attacked aid workers and health facilities.

That makes an already demanding job harder still.

The key indicators are not yet improving as they must. The response will need to be sustained and strengthened over many demanding months.

And we must remember that Ebola is not the only threat the people of DRC face.

An Ebola epidemic makes everything worse. Hunger rises. People stop coming to health centres. Maternal deaths increase. HIV treatment is interrupted.

To slow this epidemic, and to stop it, we need resources.

We have received generous support from many donors. We are grateful, but we need more.

We ask all donors to ensure that the government's response plan, and the wider humanitarian response are both fully funded.

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Ebola is another reminder of the constant threat of outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics.

Next week, leaders will meet at the United Nations General Assembly in New York to renew the commitments they made on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

For the past few months, countries have negotiated a strong political declaration, with commitments for strengthening every aspect of global health security.

The political declaration is clear: the world remains insufficiently prepared.

It calls for concrete, measurable and urgent action to address gaps.

That means building and strengthening local and national capacities, with stronger surveillance, laboratories, early warning systems, infection prevention and control, and a protected health workforce.

It means investing in readiness and resilient health systems, rooted in primary health care and universal health coverage, that maintain essential services during emergencies.

It also means solidarity and equity in access to products, tools and resources.

In the draft declaration, countries are committing to expand research and geographically diversified production, so vaccines, diagnostics and treatments can be available, affordable and accessible within the first 100 days of a pandemic threat.

The draft declaration also calls for a One Health approach;

Inclusive community engagement;

Action against misinformation;

Stronger implementation of the International Health Regulations;

And crucially, it calls for timely completion of the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement - which Member States are negotiating here in Geneva as we speak.

It is essential that countries finalize negotiations so the Pandemic Agreement can begin the ratification process and enter into force.

None of this can happen without financing.

Leaders are committing to strengthen domestic investment, mobilize sustainable international resources and operationalize the Coordinating Financial Mechanism to support the implementation of the Pandemic Agreement and the International Health Regulations.

The high-level meeting and the political declaration are important for maintaining political commitment at the highest levels.

What's even more important is what happens after the General Assembly, when leaders go home and translate political commitments into real-world actions.

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Now to Yemen, where the recent escalation of violence is compounding an already severe health and humanitarian crisis.

Fighting has caused a sharp increase in casualties and displacement, while placing even greater strain on a health system that was already under immense pressure.

Nearly 20 million people in Yemen need health assistance, and attacks on health facilities, shortages of supplies and fuel, and disruptions to referral services are pushing the system closer to collapse.

At the same time, the risks of cholera, measles, polio, dengue and malnutrition are growing, particularly among displaced communities living in crowded conditions with limited access to safe water and sanitation.

WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health with emergency medical supplies and coordinating with partners to strengthen frontline response capacity.

But humanitarian access remains severely constrained, and funding shortfalls threaten our ability to sustain and scale up the response.

We call for the protection of health workers and health facilities, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian partners, and increased international support to meet rapidly escalating needs.

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Finally, tomorrow is World Patient Safety Day.

This year, we're drawing attention to safe care for noncommunicable diseases.

As populations age and more people live longer with chronic conditions, ensuring safe care for people with NCDs is increasingly important.

A delayed diagnosis, the wrong medicine, an unsafe procedure or poor communication can have deadly consequences.

A new WHO analysis estimates that about 1 in 6 people with noncommunicable diseases experience preventable harm while receiving care.

That's about three times higher than the estimates of harm for people receiving care for any reason.

Safe care must be built into every stage of the care journey, from prevention and early diagnosis to treatment, long-term management and self-care.

Everyone has a role to play in making that happen: governments, health leaders, health workers, civil society and patients themselves.

Because if it isn't safe, it isn't care.

Tarik, back to you.