The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread across six provinces, placing severe strain on treatment centres and frontline healthcare staff, and with the WHO saying it urgently needs at least needs at least 5 000 extra pairs of hands to help stem the tide, reports The Citizen.
Since 15 May, the virus has killed 3 175 people among the more than 6 600 confirmed infected, with health services being overwhelmed, hampered by insufficient staff and resources.
The WHO plans to create 3 000 beds for patients in treatment centres countrywide, but with three medical staff needed per patient, that means training 9 000 health workers, said Luca Fontana, a senior technical official with the United Nations’ health agency.
“More than 900 beds have been built within the first two months of the response and we have now reached close to 1 400 beds across 59 treatment centres,” he told a press briefing.
“Despite this extraordinary effort, we estimate that another 1 600 beds will be required to meet the rapidly growing needs. And right now we have nearly 4 000 staff currently working inside those treatment centres. So it means we need 5 000 more.”
Outbreak overlaps epicentre
Fontana said the Health Ministry in Kinshasa was racing against time to find suitable medical staff in other regions to bring into the Ebola-affected provinces.
“The problem is to identify those fast enough to make sure we can cover the growing need,” he added.
In the initial stages, most patients admitted to treatment centres came from Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, but Fontana said sick people were now arriving from villages “far beyond” the epicentre.
This was “a clear sign” that the outbreak is spreading and the WHO response “must adapt”, he stressed.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Raging Ebola hobbled by funding issues and misinformation
Ebola outbreak the deadliest ever – WHO
Mammoth struggle to contain rapidly-spreading Ebola cases in DRC