Sustainability Needs Solidarity: Lessons from Ebola

The current Ebola outbreak in East Africa is a stark reminder of how far the world remains from achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3: ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all. As of 10 June 2026, the deadly Bundibugyo strain has claimed 129 lives and infected more than 650 people. Unlike previous Ebola variants, there are currently neither approved vaccines nor treatments available for this strain. 

This is not merely a local health emergency. Ebola exposes a fundamental reality of an interconnected world: pathogens do not stop at borders, and global health security is only as strong as its weakest link. What began in the Democratic Republic of Congo has already spread to Uganda and threatens neighboring countries such as South Sudan. In an era of unprecedented mobility, it is only a long-haul flight away from reaching Asia, Europe, or the Americas. 

Containing outbreaks like this requires sustained investment on two fronts. First, affected communities need trusted local structures, surveillance networks, and early-warning mechanisms capable of detecting cases before they spiral out of control. Second, countries need resilient health systems and a well-trained health workforce equipped with diagnostic and laboratory capacity, able to collect, transport, and analyze samples, trace contacts, and provide timely treatment. Crucially, these investments cannot be made only once an emergency is underway. Prevention remains far cheaper – and far more effective – than crisis response. 

Yet many African governments do not have the fiscal space to make these investments alone. Narrow public budgets are further constrained by heavy debt burdens. The disparity is striking: while a country such as Germany spends roughly $4,000 per person on health each year, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa can afford only $40. Closing this gap is not only a national challenge but a global responsibility. 

Such solidarity should not be mistaken for charity. It is a pragmatic investment in collective security. Every dollar spent strengthening health systems, disease surveillance, and outbreak preparedness reduces the likelihood that local epidemics become regional crises or global threats. In a world still shaped by the lessons of COVID-19, this should be self-evident. 

Yet, the response to the current outbreak paints a troubling picture. Instead of demonstrating partnership, some Global North governments revert to punishment with measures like travel restrictions. At the same time, development and global health budgets are buckling under increasing pressure. The message this sends is deeply contradictory: governments acknowledge the importance of global health security while simultaneously weakening the very systems that make it possible. 

The German government’s position illustrates this contradiction. While emphasizing global health security as a pillar of its security and development policy, corresponding funding commitments are increasingly at risk: At the very moment when countries are confronting Ebola, Mpox, and growing pandemic risks, Germany halves its contribution to the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, a key forum for preparedness and prevention. 

The Ebola outbreak unfolding today in East Africa will eventually end, and the headlines will fade. The question is whether the world learns the right lesson from it. If governments in the Global North advance their retreat into “us first” politics and continue to cut development funds, they undermine global health security. If they wait until diseases reach their own borders before responding, it will always be too little, too late. In a world where health threats anywhere can become health threats everywhere, solidarity is not the opposite of self-interest. It is self-interest, and the pivotal puzzle piece to achieving genuine sustainability. 

Author: Ralph Achenbach is Managing Director of Amref Health Africa Deutschland. 

How can sustainable development be advanced in a world shaped by geopolitical tensions, economic constraints, technological disruption, and competing political priorities? In cooperation with the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, the Table.Forum “Sustainable Development 2030 and Beyond” brings together leading voices from politics, international organizations, business, academia, and civil society to discuss solutions, priorities, and partnerships for the years ahead. At the center of the forum are the main themes of HSC 2026, which will take place on June 29–30.

Article first published on: https://table.media/forum/tableforum-sustainable-development-2030-and-beyond/sustainability-needs-solidarity-lessons-from-ebola