00:00Almost 5,000 dead, more than 10,000 infected.
00:04The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo is escalating.
00:08Yet, the international response is struggling to keep pace.
00:12The Elders, a group of former world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, are demanding urgent action.
00:18Earlier, I spoke to one of their most influential personalities, former Irish President Mary Robinson.
00:24And I started by asking her whether we're witnessing a global health emergency that the world is simply choosing to
00:31ignore.
00:32Here's what she said.
00:33It's really tragic what's happening, because this is the fastest moving Ebola.
00:3910,000 cases and about 50% mortality, which means more than 5,000 people have died.
00:45But worse than that, they're not able to follow up on the contacts because of the situation in the Democratic
00:53Republic of Congo.
00:54Of course, I know it well from my time as mediator for the Great Lakes in Africa, for the UN.
00:59And there is an urgent need for resources to help with contacts, to help the health workers, the frontline health
01:07workers, and to help with humanitarian access, etc.
01:10It has now spread.
01:13There are some cases also in Kenya, in Uganda, in Nigeria, and France.
01:18So, it is very dangerous because of the fact that they are not able to trace the contacts, much less
01:26than in the Ebola in 2014, for example.
01:29And this is very worrying.
01:31So, the Elders are calling for more international action.
01:35What exactly are you demanding?
01:37Is it more money, more medical personnel, or a totally different international approach to this crisis?
01:44We're so worried that we actually wrote an open letter to the G20 because 3 billion euros was pledged, but
01:54only a billion is being released.
01:57And, of course, the G20 includes members of the EU.
02:00So, we ask for the release of the funds that were pledged and are needed really urgently.
02:06And this should include specific funds to protect, pay, and support health workers and community leaders for village centres' responses
02:15to the frontline and funds for humanitarian early recovery needs.
02:19It also calls for guaranteed fair access to approved vaccines and treatment for priority groups, first to counter mutation risks,
02:29because there is a mutation risk, apparently, particularly in the DRC.
02:33And address the security dimension of the DRC and neighbouring countries with influence to allow safe access for health and
02:45humanitarian workers.
02:46They're the main calls that we make in that open letter.
02:50It was really very worrying, as I said, to see how quickly this is spreading, how high the mortality rate
02:58is, and that, you know, only a billion of the three billion pledged has actually been released to address it.
03:06So, you've been a leading international voice for human rights and international global justice.
03:13This is kind of a tough question.
03:15Is the impression right that the international community treats African lives as less valuable than European and American lives?
03:25I'm afraid it is a tough question, but you have to feel that, you know, the lives of those who
03:31are invisible to us, they're poor, they live in remote areas that are under difficulty of militias and armed groups,
03:40and we don't care enough.
03:42We don't care enough.
03:43That's true.
03:44And are Western governments guilty of complacency here, or are they simply overwhelmed by the magnitude of the crisis and
03:53shrinking aid budgets?
03:55I think there are a number of factors that distract governments, but the point we're making is this is dangerous.
04:03If you have a highly communicable disease and you're not able to trace the contacts because you don't have the
04:10resources to do it, it will spread further.
04:13And this could be really serious, particularly for African countries, but then it will spread to Europe.
