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The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that the worsening Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) did not meet the criteria for declaring an international public health emergency, although the region is very worrying.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus today convened an emergency committee by teleconference from Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the epidemic. The committee decided not to declare a global emergency.
At an international press conference, Tedros told reporters today that, according to the most recent information, 216 people have been infected in the DRC and 179 have died. Fifty-seven people were treated and healed, and more than 18,000 were vaccinated, including 4,000 children. Of the 10 provinces in the DRC, eight have been affected. The WHO has more than 250 workers deployed in the country.
"The [DRC] Government leadership is still strong, "said Tedros.
He added that the committee's decision "does not mean that the WHO is not taking the epidemic seriously." Although the risk of spread in the world is low, it remains very high for neighboring countries. We will be vigilant and strengthen our response, the epidemic is over. "
Tedros noted that the country faces three main obstacles: security in the midst of active conflict, mistrust of the health workforce and geographical complications, including a highly mobile population and high population density.
Robert Steffen, MD, chair of the emergency committee and professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Infectious Disease Prevention at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, told reporters that the committee needed to weigh several criteria before deciding to declare an international public health emergency. .
The first is whether the situation is extraordinary. Although there have been many Ebola outbreaks in the DRC, Steffen said: "This is extraordinary because there is a particular security challenge, with armed groups attacking it. especially also in the area of the epidemic. "
The second is the risk of cross-border spread. He added that even though there is a risk, especially for the nearest country, Uganda, "so far, no cases have been exported".
The third is whether an international response may be required. Steffen noted that an international response is already underway.
Declaring a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) can have both benefits and consequences, Steffen noted.
Steffen said the committee thought the declaration would be of little value given the number of international workers already deployed. Conversely, a PHEIC could have a negative effect on travel and trade, which could adversely affect the response teams' efforts to control the outbreak, he said.
"We are optimistic that this outbreak, like that of May, will be under control within a reasonable time," Steffen said.
The threat has intensified
On August 1, the DRC Ministry of Health declared an Ebola outbreak in North Kivu province. It was the tenth home in the country in the last 40 years. Prior to the current outbreak, the most recent was in May 2018. On September 28, WHO revised its risk assessment from very high to very high.
Teams from the Ministry of Health, WHO and its partners are responding in response to the epidemic, particularly in the vicinity of Beni, a town of several hundred thousand inhabitants, where focus most cases.
Earlier this week, Reuters announced that confinement was made more difficult because some of them who had contracted the Ebola virus were wary of the medical staff and avoided them, fearing that hospitalization would mean death. Some families are also afraid of not recovering the bodies of their loved ones during traditional burials and therefore do not report cases.
According to Reuters, local authorities in Beni said that people harboring suspected patients could be sentenced to three months' imprisonment. The authorities also offer police protection to health workers at burials.
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