The United Nations has shipped emergency supplies to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of an effort to contain the country’s growing Ebola outbreak.
UNICEF’s first international shipment of more than 100 tons of supplies was airlifted yesterday with support from the European Union and the World Health Organization. The supplies are intended to reach almost 100,000 people and include medicines, infection-control material, hygiene materials, and protective and operational equipment for healthcare workers on the front lines of the outbreak.
The outbreak has caused neighboring Uganda to close its border with Congo except for emergency response teams and humanitarian operations. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control states that Uganda has already reported nine confirmed cases and one death, with three of these cases linked to travel from Congo. In Congo, the escalating outbreak has resulted in 906 suspected cases and 223 deaths.
UNICEF representative John Agbor said the situation “remains highly concerning,” and noted that the emergency supply shipment is a race against time. The outbreak has caused the U.N. to activate its highest level of emergency response, Level 3 Corporate Emergency Activation Procedure, and has already allocated $5.75 million toward containment efforts.
The situation has caused WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus to visit Congo’s capital of Kinshasa amid the expanding Ebola crisis.
“I came here to show that the communities in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu that they are not alone and that we are here to support,” he said in reference to the Congo provinces where Ebola cases have been reported.
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Ghebreyesus told reporters that he wanted his visit to encourage the international community to increase its support for healthcare workers fighting the outbreak. The WHO director-general also said that border closings are ineffective at preventing outbreaks and that much more funding is needed to prevent the spread of Ebola.
The DRC emergency supply shipment arrives on the heels of news that a Kenyan court halted U.S. plans to open a new Ebola quarantine site for infected Americans on the same day the facility was set to open.