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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today announced two new cases of Ebola, with Uganda having announced plans to vaccinate health personnel. In another development, two global health experts said that urgent high-level support was needed to update the epidemic battle plan and that swift action was needed to strengthen US leadership. .
Pair of new cases from Beni and health workers to be vaccinated in Uganda
The latest cases are both from Beni, the main hot spot of the outbreak, announced today the Ministry of Health. The new diseases bring the total epidemic to 287 cases, of which 252 confirmed infections and 35 probable infections.
In addition, another person died of the Ebola virus – a patient from Butembo – bringing the number of victims to 181.
Health officials are still investigating 39 suspected cases of Ebola.
In addition, the number of people vaccinated reached 25,600, about half of whom are from Beni. Today's epidemic indicates that 130 of them are from Vuhovi, a newly affected health zone.
In neighboring Uganda, a vaccination campaign will begin on November 5 to vaccinate front-line health workers, health officials said today.
Ainebyoona Emmanuel, head of public relations at the Ugandan Ministry of Health, said on Twitter today that the vaccination campaign would target high-risk districts and that the country has 2,100 doses to vaccinate health workers.
A need to re-evaluate the response approach
Two global health experts from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said the outbreak response had begun in a promising way, perhaps even globally. Experts include J. Stephen Morrison, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Director of the Center for Global Health Policy at CSIS, and Judd Devermont, who heads the group's Africa program.
In a report posted on the CSIS website, the two people said that 90 days after the start of the outbreak, it was necessary to reevaluate the approach. They said the mobilization of the DRC and international groups had been quick and commendable, and that financial support was not a serious constraint. Other benefits include the availability of a vaccine and the use of experimental treatments.
Debilitating Deprecation amid attacks and mistrust
However, the attacks, mainly perpetrated by allied democratic forces against the DRC armed forces, had a "concussion impact" on the response. Morrison and Devermont claim that there have also been local attacks from armed Mayi-Mayi militias, based in the eastern Congo community. "As long as ADF and other attacks continue, response efforts will remain vulnerable to debilitating setbacks," they wrote.
The federal government of the DRC has not obtained effective control or legitimacy in the east of the country where the epidemic occurs. The presidential, regional and legislative elections scheduled for December 23 could aggravate tensions and increase the chances of controlling the epidemic, according to the report.
Government repression and the lack of an effective international effort to protect citizens from violent groups have made the residents of the affected areas suspect, some considering the UN security forces as complicit in the killings and nongovernmental organizations just to gain of money, they said.
The two countries have also expressed concern over the recent US policy, which has resulted in staff movements that have resulted in a deterioration of global health security in the White House and have retained senior expertise in US control and prevention centers. diseases (CDC), mainly for safety reasons.
Over the last two months, the debate within the US government has not resulted in a political approach, which would include the establishment of security conditions prior to the redeployment of US personnel in the region of Beni, Morrison and Devermont .
Senior US officials have indicated that the fight against the epidemic could take a year or more and that experts fear a growing epidemic.
New questions and possible tracks
The evolution of the situation raises new questions, for example, whether a different level of security thinking is needed in the context of the active war zone and the worrisome developments for the world's major powers. the rise of open skepticism towards multilateralism.
According to the authors, the mission of a high-level mission could focus on the role of UN peacekeepers and others.
According to them, one option might be to protect the area from major attacks by the force intervention brigade, part of the UN peacekeeping unit that has succeeded by the past to neutralize armed groups in the region.
They also suggested expanding the deployment and support of the DRC's public health experts, many of whom were trained by the CDC. In addition, they point out that a few US measures could help strengthen the international response, such as affirming the country's commitment to ending the epidemic, determining the number of people in the country. experts needed for the epicenter of the outbreak and the safety assessment of a small US contingent. include US security personnel in United Nations peacekeeping forces.
"Progress on all these distant fronts will be difficult, but practical solutions are still at hand," wrote Morrison and Devermont.
See also:
November 2 update of the DRC
Ainebyoona Emmanuel Twitter account
November 1 CSIS Report
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