Congo running short of health workers as Ebola crisis deepens

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The warning came despite signs of improvement in other provinces, including Ituri, the outbreak’s epicentre. The outbreak has spread to seven provinces, with 7,773 confirmed cases and 3,759 deaths, according to the latest government figures.

Between August 31 and September 20, cases fell 26 per cent in Ituri province and 15 per cent in Haut-Uele, said Marie Roseline Belizaire, the WHO’s regional emergency director for Africa.

But she added: “While cases and deaths are declining in some provinces, they continue to rise in others.

“The outbreak is still not under control and remains spread across a wide geographic area.”

The outbreak is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fuelled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements.

The WHO has said it is on track to surpass the 2014-16 west Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Catherine Smallwood, the WHO’s Ebola incident manager, said cases and deaths had begun declining in North Kivu after several weeks of increases. But although treatment beds are being added daily, facilities still lack enough staff and partners to operate them.

WHO representative in Congo Anne Ancia said one Ebola treatment centre requires about 300 health professionals, including anaesthetists, hygienists, nurses and general practitioners.

She said: “We are building Ebola treatment centres but do not always have the human resources needed to operate them.

“Those health workers must be paid.”

Front-line workers in Ituri previously went on strike over unpaid wages, worsening access to care.

Health Minister Roger Kamba said in July that the government was verifying payroll lists.

Front-line workers said officials promised to pay the arrears, but some workers received nothing and others only part of what they were owed.