Aid Groups Struggle Against Ebola Epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo

Aid workers are facing immense difficulties combating the second largest Ebola epidemic ever taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Efforts to abolish the disease are failing in some areas because many people still don't understand Ebola and also because severe measures by the outside organizations, police, and military have alienated communities. Distrustful and fearful of aid groups, people have evaded testing and treatment, and do not want interference in rituals around death and burial. 

President of Doctors Without Borders, Dr. Joanne Liu, said, "Ebola responders are increasingly being seen as the enemy... In the last month alone, there were more than 30 different incidents and attacks against elements of the response... The existing atmosphere can only be described as toxic." 

Some people question why the vaccine is being distributed only to certain individuals, like health workers and contacts of patients, rather than to everyone. Many people wonder why outside aid has not been dedicated to other diseases, such as diarrhea, that afflict more people. Others have asked aid workers where they were when militias were massacring civilians. Distrust grew in Beni and Butembo after the government prohibited people from voting in their December election, supposedly due to concerns about the spread of Ebola. 

After attacks on two treatment centers operated by Doctors Without Borders, Dr. Liu blamed medical teams, rather than the community, for the lack of trust: "They hear constant advice to wash their hands, but nothing about the lack of soap and water. They see their relatives sprayed with chlorine and wrapped in plastic bags, buried without ceremony. Then they see their possessions buried."

Furthermore, physician from Doctors Without Borders, Dr. Vinh-Kim Nguyen, wrote in an essay, "Early in the epidemic, we witnessed armed agents forcibly bringing patients in for treatment. In a population already traumatized by violence and forceful responses to numerous crises, such tactics fuel distrust of responders, which prompts patients to flee and spawns violence."

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/07/health/ebola-epidemic-congo.html

-- Caroline Aung