Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo this week with a message born not from institutional protocol, but from years of walking the same streets now threatened by Ebola. In a deeply personal address to the people of Ituri Province, Tedros invoked a name the community gave him during the last outbreak—Dr Paluku, meaning firstborn—a bond that transcends titles and reminds us that fighting a pandemic is ultimately about people.
The current Ebola outbreak has concentrated its devastation in Ituri, with more than 90% of all reported cases occurring in the province, alongside a smaller number in North Kivu and South Kivu. For a region already burdened by malaria, hunger, insecurity, and the constant struggle to protect families, the arrival of another Ebola outbreak feels like an impossible weight. Yet Tedros came not with only warnings, but with a perspective earned through repeated presence. Between 2018 and 2020, he visited the epicenter of the previous outbreak fourteen times, standing alongside grieving families, meeting health workers risking their lives daily, and witnessing the courage of community leaders who refused to abandon their people even as armed conflict raged around them.
That earlier outbreak was among the most complex in history—a crisis unfolding not in stability but in the midst of violence, with displaced communities, broken supply routes, and health workers operating under constant threat. Tedros remembers standing in Beni while fighting erupted on the city's outskirts. The clinics were targeted. Health workers were attacked. "Lives were lost that we might have saved," he acknowledged, "and that weighs on me still." Yet from that crucible came a hard-won lesson: when communities felt respected and heard, mistrust gradually dissolved. Trust grew slowly, then more quickly. People came forward. Together, they contained the outbreak.
Today, Tedros addresses a province that deserves to be seen for far more than its hardships. Ituri buzzes with entrepreneurial energy and vibrant commerce. Markets in Bunia overflow with traders, farmers, teachers, and young people building futures against overwhelming odds. That same spirit of refusal to surrender is the foundation upon which the response must be built. The WHO does not arrive with only medicine and expertise, but to join communities that have already proven their capacity to fight for survival.
A special call went to Ituri's young people, who are growing up in circumstances no youth should endure, yet who demonstrate not despair but determination. They are the future of the province and country, with a vital role now: talking to friends and families, sharing knowledge about Ebola, breaking the fear and silence that allow the virus to spread. And to the health workers of Ituri, Tedros offered words of recognition and solidarity: they are seen, they are not alone, and they are the backbone of this response.
The message was clear: Ituri's people have weathered unimaginable challenges before and emerged stronger. They will do so again.