The following can be attributed to Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC):

“We join the DRC Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, the DRC Red Cross and, above all, the people of Equateur Province in celebrating today’s announcement. Of course, our thoughts are always with the families of those who died as well as the survivors.

“This outbreak may be over, but our work is not. The issues that contributed to this outbreak – poor infrastructure, weak health and sanitation systems – are still with us.

“I share the sense of joy and relief brought about by this declaration by the DRC Ministry of Health on the end of the DRC’s 9^th Ebola outbreak. But I also believe that now is when we should start preparing for, and hopefully preventing, a 10^th outbreak. And we should not forget that communities in DRC are regularly threatened by many other diseases as well.

“I would like to applaud the hundreds of Red Cross volunteers who, alongside community health workers, played an integral role in halting the spread of this Ebola outbreak. As international teams pack up and leave, these local responders will remain. Their capacity and commitment will be instrumental in strengthening DRC’s response to any outbreak, and to building greater health resilience among local communities.”