Source: UN News: Sunday, June 21, 2026 00:08 AM
Health care capacity is being increased to treat people infected with the Ebola virus in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that lack of trust in local communities is one of the biggest obstacles to controlling the Ebola outbreak. As of June 10, 676 infection cases have been confirmed in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces of eastern DRC and 136 people have died. At the same time, 19 cases have been reported in Uganda and 2 people have died. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking at a high-level meeting of African country leaders, said the biggest obstacle to Ebola control efforts is a sense of local distrust. “These communities feel, and perhaps rightly so, that the outside world only wants to protect itself from Ebola and does not care about them at all.” The head of the UN agency visited Ituri province in eastern DRC, where the highest number of infection cases have been reported. Dr Tedros said that due to insecurity, displacement and population movement, the response is becoming complex. Apart from this, strictness is in place on the border, and these unnecessary steps are causing harm instead of benefit. Dr. Tedros said that the big question is what will we do to avert the 18th outbreak of Ebola. Or when the disease spreads for the 19th time. © WHO/Joël Lumbala The UN health agency is working with local agencies to control Ebola in DR Congo. According to the UN agency chief, overcoming Ebola will require community-level communication and dialogue, cross-border cooperation and investment in health services. “If we protect these communities from Ebola, but not from malaria, measles, malnutrition or unsafe childbirth, or from a violent conflict for which they are not responsible, then we have not really helped.” Arrangements have been made to keep and treatment centers are also being improved, so that the spread of infection can be prevented and necessary standards can be followed. Apart from this, 10 thousand liter tanks have also been arranged to help in the care of patients. Vaccine and treatment There have been outbreaks of Ebola in DRC for the last several years, but currently no vaccine has been approved to prevent Bundibugyo virus and no treatment is available. Some drugs have been shown to be effective and are planned to be used in the next few weeks. Earlier, the UN health agency had recommended that an antiviral drug, Obeldesivir, be tested in parallel to treat people who have been infected. World Health Organization has made efforts to increase the scope and scale of its campaign at the grassroots level, including contact tracing, setting up treatment centres, increasing laboratory capacity, case management, spreading awareness about preventive measures, and establishing contact with communities, among other measures.
