<\/p>\n
This is as health teams race to contain the emergency across several provinces and neighbouring Uganda.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking in Bunia on Saturday, the capital of Ituri province and the centre of the outbreak, Tedros said local communities must remain at the heart of the response to the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which no approved vaccine or treatment currently exists.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tedros told a press briefing that the response must begin with listening to communities. Tedros said communities understand local challenges and local solutions, while the role of the WHO is to support implementation of those solutions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The outbreak continues to develop rapidly. As of May 27, 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths had been reported in the DRC. Across the DRC and Uganda, 134 confirmed cases and 18 confirmed deaths had been recorded as of May 29. The WHO also said an American national who had treated patients in the DRC was receiving care in Germany.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tedros used the Bunia visit to meet government officials, community leaders, humanitarian agencies and health partners. Tedros said public confidence and community participation would be essential to ending transmission. Tedros also said community ownership would bring the outbreak to an end.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The WHO has increased work through community networks, including local leaders, radio stations and social media influencers, to counter misinformation and encourage early detection and treatment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tedros said Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus can be survived with good medical care, adding that some people in Ituri had already recovered. Tedros said early care makes a real difference.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The WHO and partners are also pursuing clinical trials aimed at developing vaccines and treatments for the strain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The agency has delivered more than 1 000 diagnostic test kits and has strengthened screening capacity at major transport hubs. The WHO is also improving water systems at Ebola treatment centres to support infection prevention and control.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The United Nations Population Fund said health facilities were increasingly redirecting staff, supplies and infrastructure to Ebola response work, reducing access to emergency caesarean sections, neonatal care, contraception and postnatal support.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tedros said the DRC had faced Ebola 16 times before and had ended every outbreak. Tedros said that the record gave confidence that the latest outbreak could also be contained.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":35875,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-35874","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said community trust will be decisive in bringing the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) under control.","published_date":"","news_description":"World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said community trust will be decisive in bringing the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) under control.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35877,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35874\/revisions\/35877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}