Oxfam aid workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have warned that the latest Ebola outbreak has been exacerbated by cuts to the foreign aid budget.
The current outbreak has killed more than 2,000 people and is on track to surpass the deadliest ever, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Oxford researchers are trying to prevent the spread, and recently began a world-first trial to test a new Ebola vaccine developed in the city.
The BBC has contacted the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office for a comment.
In 2025, the government announced it would cut about £6bn from the overseas budget by 2027 in order to fund an increase in defence spending.
In DR Congo, Oxfam’s Ebola field response co-ordinator, Manel Rebordosa, said the situation was “complicated” by a “lack of resources”.
“I was here in 2018 and also in 2014 and there is a huge difference on the mobilisation of resources at the international level to respond to this outbreak,” he said.
“You can see that things that we used to do very easily in the past, now we are not really able to.”