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Health officials have warned that the second most deadly Ebola outbreak, the world's deadliest, could become uncontrollable if armed groups do not attack medical facilities and workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) .
S addressing reporters in Geneva on Wednesday, Oly Ilunga Kalenga, DRC Minister of Health, said the government of his countryThey are struggling to contain the spread of the virus in the midst of an upsurge of violent attacks against doctors and hospitals that were dangerously delaying emergency response.
"The real urgency we are facing right now is security," Kalenga said. on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly, which is taking place this week in the Swiss city.
"Whenever there is an attack on a health facility or medical staff, the response to the epidemic is suspended and we waste precious time to prevent the virus from spreading further."
"Complex health emergency"
Kalenga's comments highlighted growing concerns from global health authorities, who fear a new pandemic just three years after the last outbreak in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people between 2014 and 2016.
"We are fighting one of the world's most dangerous viruses in one of the most dangerous areas in the world," Health Services Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief executive of the Organization, told reporters Monday. World Health Organization (WHO).
"This epidemic is one of the most complex health emergencies we have ever known.
"If we do not unite to end this epidemic, we run the real risk that it will become more widespread, more expensive and more aggressive."
Violence, mistrust
Inter-communal violence has hit eastern DRC for decades, with a number of armed groups operating in a region that has always been neglected by the central government in the capital, Kinshasa. The situation has worsened in recent years, resulting in hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people and nearly one million refugees in neighboring countries, according to the report. United Nations refugee agency.
In addition to the violent attacks, medical staff's efforts to limit the spread of the disease have been hampered by the widespread mistrust of the community with regard to health agencies and institutions. A recent study Lancet Infectious Diseases showed that more than 30% of respondents thought the virus was made for the financial gain of local elites or to cause further destabilization.
For its part, Kalenga rejected the suggestion that attacks could hide a political agenda.
"I think these are just spoilers in some provinces who want to see the government's response to the epidemic fail," he said. "I do not think there is a clear agenda behind these attacks but security agencies are looking into the situation."
Immunization campaigns
Since the beginning of the epidemic in North Kivu, in eastern DRC, last August, at least 1,223 people have died out of 1,847 confirmed Ebola cases, Kalenga said. . Thirty percent of the dead were children, according to WHO figures.
Transmission remains particularly intense in seven sensitive areas: Katwa, Mabalako, Mandima, Butembo, Musienene, Kalunguta and Beni. Kalenga, however, said the Congolese authorities had managed to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
Nevertheless, the increasing number of attacks discourages people from accessing life-saving treatments and delays vaccination campaigns, thus increasing the risk of transmission. In Butembo, the number of vaccinations was 1,000 per day, until an armed group killed a WHO doctor on April 19, momentarily stopping the vaccination campaign.
According to UN figures, more than 130 attacks against health facilities have occurred since the beginning of the epidemic. Thirty-eight people, including civilians and health workers, died as a result of these attacks.
The precarious security situation forced the Congolese to flee the country and heightened concerns about the possible cross-border spread of the Ebola virus in Uganda, Zambia and Burundi.
At the same time, DRC authorities continue to focus on prevention through immunization and awareness campaigns organized in collaboration with local authorities and tribal leaders. Ten months after the start of the epidemic, more than 100,000 people have been vaccinated, said Kalenga.
The vaccine was proven in 97% of cases. Twenty-five percent of the vaccinated persons had a very high risk of contagion.
The 2014-2016 epidemic in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone affected both urban and rural areas.
This was the most deadly and most complex Ebola outbreak since the discovery of the virus in 1976, ending with more than 28,600 cases and 11,325 deaths.
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