UN News Today 29 September 2026 |

We need more oxygen to treat DR Congo Ebola patients, says WHO 

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers fighting the country’s largest-ever Ebola outbreak need more help to overcome challenges in patient care, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.

The number of confirmed Ebola Bundibugyo cases has passed 8,000 for the first time since the current outbreak began, according to the Congolese authorities. 

Providing oxygen to patients is proven to help chances of recovery – as previous WHO responses to Ebola Zaire virus and Marburg virus have shown. 

But it remains “unavailable or unreliable in many health facilities, especially in emergency settings”, said WHO’s Dr Janet Diaz:

“Without previous oxygen scale-up efforts in Ebola and Marburg responses, we would not be where we are today in terms of more positive outcomes for patients. Oxygen is an essential life-saving medicine and a critical component of supportive care for patients with Ebola, particularly those with severe illness.”

With 8,067 confirmed cases and 3,901 deaths, the case fatality rate is more than 48 per cent in this latest outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo disease.

Ukraine: the harsh reality of everyday life for communities on the frontline

In Ukraine, an increasing number of daytime attacks by Russian forces including in Kyiv and Dnipro have highlighted how few places can now be considered safe.

For people living close to the frontlines, one of the biggest problems is a lack of healthcare, which comes under attack every day.

Halyna Skipalska is Executive Director of UN partner the Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health and Country Director of Healthright International; she told UN News that those who live close to conflict lines cannot access health services in many locations at all, because it is too dangerous to move and there is no transport “and even if there is some transportation, roads can be destroyed”. 

The majority of those who live in the east and south are actually elderly and women with children, because most men are serving in the army, Ms. Skipalska noted.

Working with OCHA, the UN aid coordination office, the NGO helps to meet the urgent needs of primary healthcare facilities and hospitals. 

This includes carrying out repairs, providing back-up generators, portable power stations, water and medical supplies.

Yemen escalation fuels fears of cholera, measles spread 

Heavy fighting in Yemen has fuelled concerns of an uptick in cholera, measles and other preventable diseases, as overcrowding at displacement sites threatens to overwhelm the limited healthcare services available.

Cholera is already present in Yemen with about 7,800 suspected cases and 22 deaths reported so far this year.

But fears of a wider outbreak are gaining traction because of unsafe water and poor sanitation at temporary shelters, warned the UN World Health Organization, WHO. 

Early treatment of cholera is vital to save lives, but health services in Yemen are over-stretched because of clashes between Houthi opposition fighters and Government forces that resumed two months ago, after four years of relative calm.

Here’s Dr Annette Heinzelmann, WHO Regional Emergency Director for the Eastern Mediterranean:

“We know that comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care has been suspended in two hospitals, in Marib and Ras al-Ara, because staff and operating capacities have been redirected to trauma care to care for the incoming wounded.”

Dr Heinzelman said that nine health facilities have been damaged or put out of service in the escalation, mostly close to Taiz, Lahj and Hudaydah. 

She stressed that displaced families urgently need maternal and child healthcare, nutrition relief, vaccination and mental health support. 

Even before the escalation, only about 60 per cent of health facilities were fully functional, with very limited capacity for trauma surgery, blood transfusion and intensive care. 

In addition to cholera, dengue has also been linked to 37 deaths in Yemen, while more than 22,000 cases of measles have been identified. 

According to the health authorities in Aden, since 6 August, the renewed clashes including southwest Yemen have injured more than 4,481 and killed 830 deaths. 

Daniel Johnson, UN News