The U.S. State Department committed an additional $267 million in humanitarian assistance to respond to the growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, amid a report from the World Health Organization that the country is running out of healthcare workers.
Here is what to know.
1. The U.S. humanitarian aid funds will be used to establish new Ebola treatment units, provide additional safe and dignified burial teams, procure personal protective equipment in bulk, and expand surveillance, critical health commodities and contact tracing, according to a Sept. 23 department news release. To date, the U.S. has provided $887 million in direct health and humanitarian assistance for the Congo outbreak.
2. As of Sept. 26, there have been 8,067 confirmed cases and 3,901 deaths, which means a fatality rate of around 48%, ABC reported. One in three new Ebola cases is identified only after the person has died outside a treatment center, Marie Roseline Belizaire, MD, WHO regional emergency director for Africa, told UN News.
3. Last week, WHO said that Congo is running out of health workers, ABC reported. The primary workforce concern is finding enough staff for Ebola treatment centers. Each center requires about 300 health professionals, including anesthetists, hygienists, nurses and general practitioners, PBS reported. For months, health workers have reported delayed or missing payments, which has led to several strikes. The Africa CDC also reported 50 health workers have died of Ebola since the outbreak was announced.
“We are building Ebola treatment centers but do not always have the human resources needed to operate them,” Anne Ancia, WHO representative in Congo, told PBS. “Those health workers must be paid.”
4. There are nearly 1,400 treatment and isolation beds across 49 Ebola treatment centers, and 25 labs processing up to 2,500 tests per day.
5. WHO said the Congo outbreak is on track to surpass the West Africa outbreak between 2014 and 2016, which killed more than 11,000 people.
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