[Comment] The PHEIC for Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus: an inflection point for solidarity and health equity

On May 16, 2026, the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took the unprecedented step of declaring a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) without first convening an Emergency Committee for the Ebola outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus (Orthoebolavirus bundibugyoense) in DR Congo and Uganda.1 Although this procedural departure is grounded in the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005),2 its rarity underscores the gravity of this Ebola virus disease outbreak.3 The crisis is the predictable outcome of deeper structural challenges: chronic underinvestment in local health systems and a global failure to prioritise pathogens that predominantly affect lower-income countries.

Source: [Comment] The PHEIC for Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus: an inflection point for solidarity and health equity