Ebola: 81 attacks on health facilities in DR Congo
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Actualité.cd
Since the start of the Ebola outbreak, WHO has recorded 81 attacks on health facilities in DR Congo, including one in Cantina Loya that killed 66 civilians. According to Dr Marie-Roseline Bélazaire, WHO’s health emergencies director for Africa, more than 1,000 contacts have been lost to follow-up and three confirmed cases remain untraced.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded 81 attacks on health facilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the outbreak was declared six months ago. Dr Marie-Roseline Bélazaire, WHO’s health emergencies director for Africa, gave this figure on Thursday 12 November during a press conference with Congolese health authorities. “Insecurity makes the response even more difficult,” she said.
An armed attack the previous week in Cantina Loya reportedly killed 66 civilians, including three health workers, and three facilities were looted. More than 1,000 contacts have also been lost to follow-up, and three confirmed Ebola cases remain untraced.
Dr Steeve Ahuka, who manages the Ebola response in DR Congo, also cites insecurity, which sometimes prevents teams from reaching areas where transmission remains active. He also points to gaps in infection prevention at many highly frequented private health facilities, which could fuel community deaths and virus transmission.
The outbreak remains active in several areas of the east of the country. This tally expands on an earlier count of 11 health centres attacked, which had already been hampering the response.
