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The signs of an upcoming Ebola crisis are multiplying. The disease is spreading rapidly in a region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where health care workers are facing unprecedented violent attacks by both insurgent militants and concerned locals.
Nevertheless, the Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced the announcement Wednesday confused that he will not declare the "epidemic" of the disease. public health emergency of international concern ". Such a designation would have triggered a reaction within the United Nations, mobilizing many agencies, funds and staff – in other words, global response that has resolved late outbreaks in Liberia, in Sierra Leone and Guinea in 2014 and 2015.
S addressing reporters around the world based at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Tedros acknowledged that a difficult situation was being prepared in the region of North Kivu of Congo. , near the borders of Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda, where about 60 different armed groups, a group of 16,600 people The United Nations peacekeeping force and government soldiers clashed for years. The epicenter of this latest Ebola outbreak is at the center of local military clashes in and around the city of Beni.
"The situation is this," said Tedros. "Some 216 people were infected" with the haemorrhagic virus, leaving "139 dead, 57 recovered. The government continues to show leadership. This is the 10th battle of the Congo with Ebola and its Ministry of Public Health has many veteran skirmishes with the virus. According to Tedros, more than 18,000 people in the North Kivu region have been vaccinated against the experimental Ebola virus. A WHO team of 250 is currently on the ground. She discovered infected people, quarantined them and tried to control the virus. trigger. A committee of WHO scientific advisers concluded that the government of President Joseph Kabila, with the support and existing international expertise, was able to handle the crisis.
The opinion of the United States is different. Last week, the US State Department estimated that the security situation on the ground of the outbreak was so dangerous that teams of US experts from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention were removed more than 1 000 kilometers from the Congolese capital, Kinshasa. On 28 September, the WHO warned that the epidemic had reached a "critical turning point" in the face of renewed reports of violence, including the mbadacre of 17 people inside the city of Beni. This year, more than half a million people have been displaced from their homes in the region because of military activities and 13,000 people have fled around Beni in August
Fear, anger and violent rivalries have spread in the response to Ebola. On October 2, for example, a Red Cross team was attacked by a crowd of the village as it tried to bury a woman who died of the Ebola virus following security practices eliminate physical contact between the body and those in mourning. The body was stolen and the Red Cross volunteers fled to safety. In another incident, an Ebola treatment center was attacked by a gang of young men. Although Tedros and WHO have decided that it is not necessary to declare an international emergency at the moment, preventing the transport of additional medical and public health personnel, as well as the logistical and logistical support of several US agencies there is reason to be concerned about this situation. This is the first outbreak of Ebola in a war zone. On October 3, Tedros himself admitted, asking the UN Security Council to significantly increase the security support provided by MONUSCO, the Mission of the United Nations Security Council (MONUSCO). United Nations Stabilization Organization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has more than 16,000 military personnel. more than 4,000 civilian personnel support the world
The conflict in the Kivu region is also particularly complex. At least 2.5 million people, mostly civilians, were killed in northern and northeastern Congo between 1998 and 2002, and the region is still experiencing ethnic hatred, including elements of hatred. of Hutu blood against Tutsis, at the origin of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The dozens of militias are well armed, with ranks of seasoned soldiers, often brutal, many of whom have been at war for more than two decades. The allegiances and wealth of militias are also complex. Many of them are full of fighters from outside Congo and finance their campaigns with diamonds, gold and other riches in stones and minerals extracted from Congo. Stakeholders for Ebola had to negotiate free pbadage privileges with local militias and armies to track down infected individuals and detect the possible spread of the virus through their contacts.
Because they can not move freely, Ebola responders, including international non-governmental organizations. Organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and the International Red Cross can not deploy tactics that have succeeded in stopping previous epidemics, including seeking information about people and persons in contact with known victims Ebola virus. infection, the creation of vaccination rings to form social barriers to the spread of the disease, and the cessation of all normal funeral procedures to avoid contact of people in mourning with corpses very contagious.
MONUSCO's constant presence alongside health workers only exacerbates rumors and mistrust among residents. people, who are already on the verge of violence and consider the national army as a fce. A team from the Congolese Ministry of Public Health interviewed local civilians and said, "The government is criticized for not doing enough to ensure security. The UN is considered accomplice to the mbadacres committed here and not to protect the population, with the exception of a few battalions. And NGOs, people think that they are only there to make money.
A source from ALIMA, a group of humanitarian doctors currently treating patients around Beni, told me that the thermometers used to test the eventual presence of Ebola had provoked riots. ; Because Ebola is so contagious, oral thermometers can not be used. Therefore, "anti-fever guns", as they are called, are directed to the heads of individuals to allow a quick reading of the temperature. Many people believe that foreigners use these guns to fight the fever to read their thoughts, finding out how they intend to vote in the next election. Rumor has it that foreigners made the Ebola virus and made it public for various purposes. More and more people believe that the scale of the Ebola response is disproportionate to the much greater likelihood that local residents will be raped, tortured or murdered by rival militias. As one local health worker recently told a questioning anthropologist: "We think it would be good if so much effort is made to mobilize teams to end the problem." ;insecurity. The Ebola virus kills, but the rebels die more.
Health care workers have reason to be concerned for their own safety. As Tedros told the United Nations Security Council on 3 October, "We have taken all possible measures to ensure the safety of WHO staff, but as we deploy more staff in the field, the risks of accident or abduction increase or one of our colleagues simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In April of this year, a Catholic priest was abducted in front of his parish in North Kivu: the Catholic Church paid a ransom of $ 500,000 for his release. During the same week, nine other people were abducted in the area. The kidnappers demanded a ransom. Three were executed for non-payment. The following month, in the nearby Virunga National Park, a park warden was killed and two British tourists were kidnapped for ransom. A group called Kivu Security Tracker monitors killings, rapes, looting and kidnappings in the region, providing dark, regularly updated maps and data on chaotic and dangerous disorder. A quick review of recent incidents reveals that many people are killed for failing to pay money for their freedom or abandoning valuables, such as mobile phones, to various commandos. armed groups.
I recently asked Tedros what the WHO would do. if an Ebola worker is held for ransom. "What we are doing now is maximum security to prevent kidnappings," he said, adding that "if something happens, it will be a UN Security Council affair." Meanwhile, by ordering US government personnel to withdraw from the outbreak, the state department made a unilateral decision regarding security threats in the region. This is a typical 'America First' reaction of the Trump administration. Previous administrations have responded to security concerns during outbreaks abroad by working with partners in other countries to develop a common set of standards and protocols.
In the absence of a commitment from the United States, the WHO must take political initiative, which is certainly not its strong, resulting in the security national and legal experts in immediate planning in case of serious breach of security. . While waiting for a doctor to be in the hands of Mai-Mai Yakutumba, a nurse is raped by Hamakombo, Congolese army soldiers shoot at a health volunteer who is looking for contacts or contacts. Mayi-Mayi rival factions engage in Ebola-related shootings Center workers are a recipe for absolute disaster. Unfortunately, Tedros' advisers, who suggested not declaring a public health emergency, have already shown how ignorant they all were of the devastating carnage and war of the region.
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