Why it is in the news
On 18 September 2026, UN Women and UN News put a figure on who is dying in the world's only live Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Dr Setcheme Mongbo, UN Women's Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, told a Geneva briefing that more than 54% of confirmed Ebola patients in the DRC are women, that 86% of surveyed women-led organisations had received no Ebola response funding, and that nine in ten were excluded from response decision-making.
The exam angle
Issue: An epidemic with nearly 6,800 confirmed cases and a 48% case fatality ratio is unfolding against a countermeasure stockpile built for a different virus species. What does this reveal about the design of global health security, and about who bears the cost of its gaps?