Congo conflict makes fight against Ebola and sexual violence risky

JOHANNESBURG (AP) – The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Congolese surgeon is drawing rare global attention to a region beset by rebel strife that now threatens efforts to contain a deadly outbreak of Ebola.

While Dr. Denis Mukwege explains to the world how he stays in his hospital, protected by United Nations peacekeepers, in order to avoid other death attempts, teams of agents health not far from eastern Congo feel a sense of discomfort within their relationship to the Ebola virus. daily ringing of shots.

The war in the vast region was once aimed at overthrowing a president, tracking down those suspected of genocide in neighboring Rwanda, or simply demanding part of the billions of dollars of Congo's mineral resources. Today, the conflict has split in two, dozens of rebel groups have traumatized a population that sometimes has no idea who is behind an attack deadly.

This chaos has resulted in a continuous and horrific flow of women, girls and even babies into the Mukwege Hospital, which operates day after day survivors of the toughest types of sexual violence. Women and girls are raped with barrels of rifles. Their genitals are slaughtered or burned. The new documentary "City of Joy" is dedicated to the survivors and the work of Mukwege.

Injuries can lead to trauma, and the emergence of Ebola in August for the first time posed the kind of challenge that many health workers had never seen before. So far, 140 cases of Ebola have been confirmed, including 76 deaths.

Fears and rumors about the virus have spread as quickly as outreach teams can refute them. Some health workers, faced with angry families or communities, were attacked while trying to vaccinate or promote safe burials. The virus is transmitted by the body fluids of infected people, including the dead.

Some people suspected of having contact with Ebola victims have fled. The World Health Organization is openly worried about the spread of the virus in "red zones" where the threat of rebels is such that carrying out health work is almost impossible.

"It's a totally unprecedented situation … potentially explosive," said Anne Rimoin, associate professor of epidemiology at UCLA, who leads teams of researchers in the epidemic zone. d & # 39; Ebola. A member of the team was slightly injured by people throwing stones, she said.

The threat of attack means that efforts against Ebola are limited to the light of day, because the teams and their armed escorts, usually US peacekeepers but also the Congolese security forces, are eager to leave the roads before dark.

"It's very different from other epidemics," Rimoin told The Associated Press. With communities "already traumatized by decades of conflict," the presence of armed escorts can be a source of concern.

At the same time, local authorities who have had contact with rebel groups in previous efforts, such as routine immunization campaigns, negotiate with combatants for urgent access, as any Ebola victim left unattended could cause a new series of cases.

The alarm regarding the insecurity has increased. Last week, after Red Cross workers were attacked and seriously injured, the UN Security Council called for an end to hostilities as it prepared to travel to Congo and discuss inter alia, fighting that displaced about one million people in the north of the country affected by Ebola Kivu Province alone.

"An extremely difficult and dangerous environment," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, describing the attacks that have occurred since the beginning of the epidemic: a "large-scale" assault on a Congolese military base, ambushes of UN peacekeepers, an explosion an attack on the city at the center of efforts to fight the Ebola virus that killed at least 18 people and blocked health activities during days.

The announcement on Friday of the Nobel Prize, the first in the history of Congo, caused an explosion of tears at Panzi Hospital as Mukwege completed his second operation of the day. "Hallelujah," people said, as medical workers danced scrubs and women wiped their eyes.

This award launched a new wave of global calls to end the conflict and allow health workers in the region to care for others without fear of violence.

"A lasting peace," said the special envoy of the UN Secretary-General in Congo, while congratulating Mukwege on his victory.

But it will not be easy. Even as the Congolese government partially claimed the efforts of the Nobel laureate, who was a virulent critic, incumbent President Joseph Kabila hopes that US peacekeepers, one of the few stabilizing forces in the region, prepare for withdrawal.

Congolese staff and health staff are also preparing for the late December presidential election, which could create new troubles. All hope that the Ebola outbreak can be completed before this date.

The vote, Mercy Corps Deputy Director Whitney Elmer said Friday, "could lead to more violence and aggravate an already unstable situation."

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