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The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that it may not be possible to contain the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo in two affected provinces of the world. east of the country if violent attacks against health workers and treatment centers continued.
In a statement Friday, the WHO said it was "improbable" that the virus "remains successful" in North Kivu and Ituri – that combine on the border between the Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan – unless the targeting of response activities is complete.
The current epidemic is the second worst in history and has already killed 1,105 people. Efforts have also been made to end the nine-month epidemic. volatile security situation and widespread mistrust on the part of the community.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, said "deeply worried" about recent trends in the epidemic.
"Increasing transmission rates increase the risk of Ebola spreading in the DRC and neighboring countries," said Ghebreyesus. m said in a tweet.
"The tragedy is that we have the technical means to stop Ebola, but until all parties put an end to attacks on the response, it will be very difficult to end this epidemic," he said. added.
Earlier this week, fighters from the May-May armed rebel group attacked a treatment center in Butembo, a city at the heart of the crisis.
The assault followed a "violent attack" perpetrated against a burial team on May 3, after the burial of an Ebola victim in the city of Katwa, at the time of the attack. Butembo, said the WHO, saying she had been forced to suspend response activities for five days. because of insecurity.
"The ongoing violent attacks are creating fear, perpetuating mistrust and further exacerbating the multitude of challenges already faced by front-line health workers," said the statement in a statement.
Deepening of the security crisis
Eastern DRC has experienced decades of violence, withnuclei of armed groups operating throughout the region, historically neglected by the central government of Kinshasa.
In addition to active armed groups in the region, health workers were faced with widespread community mistrust of the Ebola epidemic, with some segments of the local population thinking that it had been manufactured. for the financial gain of local elites business owners or to further destabilize the region.
"Security problems are twofold: armed groups present in the region for decades and the hostility of the community, which has now shifted from targeting facilities to intervention assistants, "said Whitney Elmer, director of the DRC for the US NGO Mercy Corps, in a statement.
"The impact of rising violence is clear, security incidents affect response activities.The virus does not take a break – after each interruption of activity, there is an increase in infections. Ebola, "added Elmer.
According to the WHO, more than 100 attacks against Ebola treatment centers and health workers have been registered since the beginning of the year.
In April, heavily armed assailants broke into a hospital in Butembo and killed Richard Mouzoko, a Cameroonian doctor from WHO working on the Ebola response.
The assault came after In February, unidentified assailants set fire to two Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) treatment facilities in North Kivu, prompting the organization to suspend operations in the region.
Shortly after, he warned that a "climate of growing mistrust on the part of the community" reigned amidst "various political, social and economic grievances" and a supposedly too militarized reaction of the authorities to l & # 39; outbreak.
"Unprecedented challenge"
David Miliband, President of the International Rescue Committee, warned Friday that in the climate of violence, the epidemic "unprecedented challenge "for the DRC and the international community, warningThis increasingly volatile atmosphere "made any progress against the disease impossible".
"The situation is far more dangerous than the statistics of the 1,000 deaths, itself the second-largest in history, suggest – and the suspension of essential services may create a deadly inflection point in the trajectory of the disease, "said Miliband in a statement. after the meeting health workers in the regional capital, Goma.
This Ebola outbreak, which occurs in an area of active conflict characterized by widespread poverty and deep political divisions, presents an unprecedented challenge for the DRC and for the world. The situation is far more dangerous than the statistics of the 1000 dead, itself the 2nd largest in history.
– David Miliband (@DMiliband) May 10, 2019
In an effort to contain the virus, health workers have vaccinated more than 111,000 people so far as part of a government-supported immunization program. The vaccine is experimental, but its effectiveness is estimated at 97.5%.
But registered cases continued to rise due to growing insecurity, culminating in a record number of 126 confirmed cases notified over a seven-day period ending April 28, prompting WHO to alert of "an intense continuous transmission scenario".
The world's worst Ebola outbreak, a haemorrhagic fever, killed an estimated 11,300 people in West Africa while it was crossing Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia from 2013 to 2016.
Other reports by David Child: @DavidChild90
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