The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for “free and secure” access to the Ebola-affected people in the conflict-affected region of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, said after seeing first-hand the complexities of the Ebola response that unhindered access to the disease-affected people was necessary in order to bring the outbreak under control.
Tedros said: “All of those participating in the response must be able to move freely and safely in conflict areas to do the work that is needed to bring the outbreak under control.
While the latest Ebola outbreak making it 10th times the country suffers the epidemic, was the first time that the disease had struck a densely populated active conflict zone, WHO said.
A little more than a week since the government declared the new Ebola outbreak, Tedros and other top WHO officials went on a two-day mission to the city of Beni as well as to Mangina, the epicentre of the epidemic, where most of the confirmed cases had been reported so far.
The top officials of the global health agency were Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa and Dr Peter Salama, WHO Deputy Director-General for Emergency Preparedness and Response.