As we reach 100 days since the Ebola disease
outbreak was declared in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns that communities are
not receiving adequate support to contain the disease. This
outbreak has become the largest and deadliest in the
country’s history, and it continues to spread at an
alarming rate within communities who already contend with
conflict, violence, displacement, and hunger, among other
health emergencies, in their daily
lives.
Training for health workers and
community leaders on case detection, referrals, and
infection prevention and control measures must be urgently
bolstered within communities affected by the
outbreak.
Over the past week, deaths due to Ebola
disease have been reported at a rate of roughly one every
half hour. Since the outbreak began and as of 16 August,
national authorities have reported more than 5,000 confirmed
cases and over 2,400 deaths.
“This epidemic
continues to spread, moving faster than the response can
keep up,” says Dr Javid Abdelmoneim, International
President of MSF. “Treatment centres remain essential for
saving lives, but this response needs more than extra beds.
It needs better detection, safe isolation for sick people
and their contacts, and support to health workers. People
seeking care in existing health facilities also need to be
protected from infection. Crucially, the response must be
built with communities, not around them.”
In Rho
displacement camp, near Drodro, Ituri, community leaders
have worked with MSF to encourage people with symptoms to
seek testing, isolation and treatment early. They also
promote infection prevention and control measures to reduce
the risk of community transmission. In the overcrowded camp,
which is home to nearly 50,000 people, this collaboration
has helped limit the spread of Ebola and reduce
mortality.
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“We know our communities and how to reach
our people,” says Ezrome Kiza Lumani, a community leader
living in the camp. “When Ebola arrived, we did not wait.
We spoke with families, listened to their fears, and
encouraged people with symptoms to seek care. We have a
crucial role to play in stopping this
outbreak.”
Since the outbreak was officially
declared, more than 60 per cent of Ebola disease deaths in
DRC have occurred outside – and often far away from –
Ebola treatment centres. This means many people are dying at
home or in their communities without receiving care, and the
virus continues to spread before cases are detected.
Worryingly, case numbers are rising rapidly beyond the
epicentre of Ituri, with North Kivu province experiencing
particularly high levels of mortality and mistrust in the
response.
“With cases emerging in new areas with
little or no previous experience managing Ebola disease,
Ebola-trained healthcare workers are urgently needed not
only inside treatment centres, but also directly in affected
communities,” says Trish Newport, MSF’s emergency
programme manager in Ituri province.
MSF is currently
responding across Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo, and
Haut-Uélé provinces. Teams are operating six Ebola
treatment centres, as well as isolation units, in affected
areas, with more than 400 beds available — representing
one third of all beds in the overall response. More than
1,400 MSF staff are supporting the response. Since the start
of the outbreak, our teams have admitted more than 2,000
patients, of which more than 800 patients were confirmed to
have Ebola disease.
In Beni, North Kivu province, we
have worked to move our response within communities. Through
supporting existing health facilities that also offer
general healthcare services, which are also crucial to
saving lives, systematic and symptomatic treatment can start
quickly. Across the response to the outbreak in DRC, more
must be done to ensure people can receive the care they need
closer to home.
“Health workers and community
leaders need training to help detect cases early, refer
people safely, reinforce infection prevention and control,
and protect themselves and others from infection,” says
Newport. “The World Health Organization (WHO), other UN
agencies, humanitarian organisations, including MSF, and the
Congolese Ministry of Health must urgently expand this
training and support.”
Community leaders like Emery
Guba Mateso, also from Rho displacement camp, are sharing
their experiences to encourage people to seek care. He lost
his son to the disease and later survived an infection
himself.
“As a person who has recovered from Ebola
disease, the message I would like to share with the
community is: as soon as the first symptoms appear, it is
important to seek medical care promptly, because early
access to appropriate treatment increases the chances of
recovery,” says Guba
Mateso.
Notes:
MSF is an
international, medical, humanitarian organisation that
delivers medical care to people in need, regardless of their
origin, religion, or political affiliation. MSF Australia
was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF
sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian
assistance to people in crisis. Every year more than 120
Australians and New Zealanders go on assignment with
Médecins Sans Frontières working as: doctors, midwives,
psychologists, laboratory technicians, human
resource/finance coordinators, pharmacists, mental health
specialists and logisticians. MSF delivers medical care
based on need alone and operates independently of
government, religion or economic influence and irrespective
of race, religion or gender. For more information visit
msf.org.au
