UN hopes new Ebola emergency response official will help end the crisis in DRC
The drive to rein in the deadly virus has been hampered by attacks on treatment centres by armed groups, and distrust among local residents who view the disease as a conspiracy
Geneva — The UN named an emergency Ebola response co-ordinator on Thursday, creating a new position to boost efforts to contain a 10-month epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that has killed more than 1,200 people. The drive to rein in the deadly virus has been hampered by attacks on treatment centres by armed groups operating in DRC’s lawless east, as well as by distrust among local residents, many of whom view the disease as a conspiracy. The outbreak has been contained in parts of Ituri and North Kivu provinces, but risks of spreading to other provinces and neighbouring countries remain "very high", the UN and World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a statement. Stronger political engagement and operational support to negotiate access to communities is needed, and readiness planning for Goma, a city of one-million people near the Rwandan border, it said. David Gressly, currently deputy chief of the UN's Monusco peacekeeping mission in DRC, has been appointed to the new...
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