Ebola outbreak not under control amid 'dysfunctions' in response, MSF warns

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The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still not under control, six months after it was declared, Doctors Without Borders' (MSF) emergency co-ordinator has…

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still not under control, six months after it was declared, Doctors Without Borders' (MSF) emergency co-ordinator has said.

Anna Halford, who has spent many weeks in the DRC helping to manage the organisation’s response, said that most incidents were “surprise cases”, showing that contact tracing was not keeping track of the disease’s spread.

The World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a public health emergency in May, although the disease is thought to have been spreading since the beginning of this year.

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Ms Halford’s comments to The National come after MSF released a statement in which its international president, Javid Abdelmoneim, said staff were “often left speechless by dysfunctions” in the response to the outbreak, which has killed more than 5,400 people.

Dr Abdelmoneim said “urgent improvements in oversight, staffing, and operational support” were essential. Statements from the Congolese authorities about improvements in transparency and oversight must translate into real-world changes, MSF said.

Previous reports citing figures from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that out of $962 million (Dh3.53 billion) passed on to organisations dealing with Ebola, $700 million was unaccounted for.

MSF said many front-line workers were left without vital equipment and there were “critical shortcomings” in the response despite the hundreds of millions of dollars coming from the international community.

There are untrained and unpaid personnel, a lack of fuel for vehicles including ambulances, supposed surveillance teams “that are nowhere to be seen on the ground” and healthcare staff who do not have supplies or technical support to deal with suspected cases.

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