Aid for Congo's Ebola crisis not reaching patients, MSF warns

Outbreak detected in May, now out of control

The Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak was first detected in the conflict-hit Ituri province in mid-May. It has since killed more than five thousand three hundred people, with more than eleven thousand confirmed cases.

Hundreds of millions spent, but not reaching frontline

Doctors Without Borders warned Thursday that despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent by the international community, many frontline responders are left trying to contain the outbreak with empty hands and empty pockets.

“"many frontline responders are left trying to contain the outbreak with empty hands and empty pockets"”

Healthcare workers unpaid, ambulances without fuel

MSF cited cases of healthcare workers not being paid or trained, ambulances left without fuel, lack of supplies for frontline employees, and surveillance teams that exist on paper but are nowhere on the ground.

Hospitals becoming centres of transmission

MSF warned that some hospitals have become new centres of transmission rather than places of care. In one part of North Kivu, close to three-quarters of Ebola patients contracted the disease in a health facility.

No vaccine for Bundibugyo strain yet available

The current epidemic is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which no approved vaccine or treatment is currently available.MSF calls for broader access to ERVEBO, the only vaccine currently available at scale.

“"the absence of a Bundibugyo-specific vaccine should not prevent the use of the only vaccine currently available"”