Fighting Ebola in DR Congo - UN News (8 November 2018)

United Nations Peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix visited Ebola-hit Beni in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Together with the Head of the World Heath Organization, M. Lacroix expressed his hopes to tackle the virus and foster peace in this trouble region in the East of the country.
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New measures to overcome challenges in the response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are having a positive impact, although the outbreak remains dangerous and unpredictable, the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping and the World Health Organization (WHO) said after a joint mission to assess the outbreak.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a press conference in Kinshasa that “the disease is contracting geographically and also, we see fewer cases from week to week, but that doesn’t mean that the outbreak is over.”
Actually, he noted, “a single case could ignite it again, and that’s why we cannot say it’s over until it’s over.”
He said there is a “cautious optimism” and added that taking into account “the confounding factor like insecurity, until is over is not over.”
Tedros explained that “in the past, when Ebola outbreak happens, the only methods we had were traditional methods” such as prevention and control, patient care, management, and isolation, but now, “we have vaccines, very effective vaccines, and we have therapeutics. So, that’s why I say we are better equipped.”
To date, 27,000 people have been vaccinated against Ebola, and almost every new patient receives one of 4 investigational treatments, something which was never previously possible during an Ebola outbreak.
Joining Tedros, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the role of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) in supporting efforts against the Ebola outbreak, “is quite considerable.”
This includes the construction of camps for WHO staff and other partners, the supply of vehicles, and the provision of air transport.
MONUSCO has recently taken an active approach to armed groups operating in North Kivu, which has contributed to a period of calm in and around the city of Beni, although some attacks have continued in surrounding villages.
Lacroix said that in order for the response to be “truly effective” regional commitment is needed.
He said “we need a commitment from the countries of the entire region to dismantle the armed groups. Otherwise the chances of success are much lower,” and added that “there obviously needs to be a national commitment” as well “a local commitment, including communities”
Lacroix and Tedros yesterday travelled with the Minister of Health, Oly Ilunga Kalenga, to the city of Beni in eastern DRC, the epicentre of the outbreak, where they met health workers, civil society representatives, peacekeeping troops and local authorities.
Since the outbreak began in August, there have been 308 cases and 191 deaths, about half of which have been in Beni, a city of 800,000 people. The current outbreak is the country’s 10th and is on track to surpass the previous largest outbreak, which was in Yambuku in 1976 when there were 318 cases and 280 people died.