Panafrican News Agency

With Ebola on the wane in DR Congo, UN agencies prepare to combat coronavirus

Beni, DR Congo (PANA) - After more than a year of battling an Ebola virus outbreak that killed more than 2,200 people, UN officials are “cautiously optimistic” that the epidemic in the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will soon be history as the country gears up to face the emerging threat of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). 

In an emotional ceremony on Tuesday, the last Ebola patient in the DRC - a woman called Masiko - was discharged from the treatment centre in Beni, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported. 

“There are currently zero cases of #Ebola in #DRC after over a year of fighting this outbreak,” WHO Regional Director Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said in Tweet sharing a video of Masiko leaving the facility to the cheers of a waiting crowd. 

“So proud of all involved in the response. We are hopeful, yet cautiously optimistic that we will soon bring this outbreak to an end,” she said. 

WHO said the milestone comes as countries increasingly report cases of respiratory disease caused by a new strain of the coronavirus, which first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.  To date, more than 60 additional countries have been affected. 

The WHO statement said following the virus’s spread to the continent, the African Union (AU) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention organised an emergency ministerial meeting last month where the DRC was identified among 13 countries most at risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to their direct travel links with China. 

“Some countries in Africa, including DRC, are leveraging the capacity they have built up to test for Ebola, to test for COVID-19,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the meeting. “This is a great example of how investing in health systems can pay dividends for health security.” 

WHO’s Africa office this week held an emergency partnership meeting on coronavirus , aimed at boosting engagement and developing an effective preparedness and response plan for countries in the region. 

Organizations in attendance included UN agency the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which believes that compared to countries with little experience in large-scale infection prevention and control, the DRC may be better positioned to prevent the spread of the coronavirus because of the Ebola measures already implemented. 

UNFPA health workers have been supporting Ebola response in the DRC, the 10th such outbreak in the country’s history. It has occurred against the backdrop of one of the world’s most protracted crises and in a region of the country that has been scarred by deadly armed group attacks.

Overall, nearly 16 million DR Congolese citizens require support, including 3.5 million women and girls of reproductive age, that is, between 15-49 years old. 

While all people living in affected areas are at risk of contracting Ebola, UNFPA explained that health workers face increased risk due to frequent contact with infected persons, their biological fluids and contaminated objects.

They also risk spreading the disease to other patients and practitioners during care.

More than five per cent of Ebola victims in DRC were health workers who contracted the disease through contact with an infected patient’s bodily fluids, according to the agency. 

-0- PANA MA 4March2020