<\/p>\n
Six months after the outbreak was declared, MSF said urgent action was needed to ensure available resources translated into effective and coordinated activities in affected communities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking to Channel Africa on Friday, MSF Southern Africa Director of Advocacy and Analysis Claire Waterhouse said the outbreak had not been brought under control, with more than 11 000 cases recorded and over 5 000 deaths.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we would have hoped to see by now is some semblance of this outbreak being under control or on its way to being under control,\u201d Waterhouse said. \u201cUnfortunately, that is not what we are seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Waterhouse said almost 50% of those infected had died from the disease. The outbreak was the second-largest recorded globally and the largest experienced by the DRC.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Despite hundreds of millions of dollars being disbursed by the international community, MSF said shortcomings remained in critical areas of the response, including disease surveillance, staff training, protective equipment, transport and communication.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Waterhouse said one of MSF\u2019s greatest concerns was the system used to identify and monitor people who had been in contact with Ebola patients.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When a person tested positive for Ebola, response teams needed to identify recent contacts and monitor those people for possible symptoms. Effective contact tracing allowed infected people to receive assistance earlier and reduced the likelihood of further transmission. \u201cThat system is not working,\u201d Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to MSF, only 9% of the cases identified since the outbreak began involved people who were already under surveillance.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIdeally, that number should be much higher,\u201d Waterhouse said. \u201cWe should already be aware of many people who have been in touch with people who have Ebola so that we can monitor them and be ready to help them earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Waterhouse said improved surveillance would also limit the number of people an infected person encountered before detection and treatment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
MSF said international funding commitments had been made, but the resources were not consistently translating into practical improvements in affected areas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Healthcare workers were still operating without adequate protective equipment, while some workers remained untrained or unpaid. Waterhouse warned that these conditions placed both healthcare workers and patients at risk. \u201cThere has been quite a lot of international funding put towards this, but we are not seeing the impact of that hitting the ground,\u201d Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Although it was difficult to determine the precise amount required to contain the outbreak, Waterhouse said funding committed by the international community appeared sufficient to support the response at that stage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The concern was that the available funding and resources were not reaching the activities and workers requiring support. \u201cThere is not enough protective equipment. There are not enough ambulances or fuel for vehicles,\u201d Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
MSF had also identified surveillance teams that appeared to exist in official plans but could not be found operating in affected communities. \u201cThere are surveillance teams that exist on paper, for example, but we cannot find them anywhere on the ground,\u201d Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Community workers, described by Waterhouse as the backbone of the response, also lacked basic communication resources. Some did not have mobile phones or data to send alerts to healthcare personnel when suspected cases were identified.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Healthcare workers at treatment facilities were being left without the technical assistance and medical supplies needed to manage Ebola cases safely and effectively. \u201cAs much as there does appear to have been a good commitment of funding, and funding reaching the countries where it is needed, what we are seeing is that it is not actually connecting on the ground,\u201d Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Waterhouse said the failure to translate funding into an effective response was particularly concerning six months into the outbreak.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
MSF also addressed concerns about the possibility of Ebola spreading from the DRC to neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Waterhouse said cross-border transmission remained a risk for as long as the outbreak continued, but the likelihood of widespread international transmission was relatively low at that stage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not a super-high risk at this point,\u201d Waterhouse said. \u201cOf course, for as long as this outbreak continues, it is a risk, and it is certainly something that countries need to be paying attention to.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Neighbouring countries needed adequate health protocols at their borders to identify and manage possible cases, according to Waterhouse.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, MSF said the greatest impact of the outbreak remained inside the DRC and was likely to remain concentrated within the country.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a fairly low risk of widespread international spread at this point,\u201d Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The most effective way for neighbouring countries and international partners to reduce the risk of cross-border transmission was to strengthen the response inside the DRC, according to MSF.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIf countries are worried about that, or people are worried about that, the best thing they can do is contribute to and support the response within the DRC,\u201d Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Waterhouse said bringing the outbreak under control in the DRC would, in turn, reduce the risk faced by surrounding countries.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
MSF called for stronger coordination and practical action to address gaps in surveillance, protective equipment, transport, communications and healthcare support. The organisation said the international community\u2019s financial commitments needed to produce visible improvements for healthcare workers, patients and communities affected by the outbreak.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33908,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-50913","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF) has warned that critical failures in the Ebola response in the DRC are continuing despite substantial international funding.","published_date":"","news_description":"M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF) has warned that critical failures in the Ebola response in the DRC are continuing despite substantial international funding.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50913","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\/50913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50915,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50913\/revisions\/50915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=50913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}