Attacks on Ebola Health Workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/23/opinion/letters/ebola-violence-congo.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Ebola Outbreak Worsens as Doctors Dodge Attacks” (front page, May 20):

I recently returned from Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. You are right to highlight the gulf of political mistrust at the heart of the Ebola crisis, which is far more worrying and dangerous than realized.

More than 200 people have been infected since I left on May 10. The issue now is how to rescue the situation. We know what doesn’t work: the heavy hand of outsiders with military escorts.

The International Rescue Committee runs more than 50 health centers in eastern Congo, and the recipe for trust is to work from the ground up. That means local hires — doctors, nurses, security — drawn from the community and galvanized to defend it. There must be a new partnership where every part of the response is assigned to those with real expertise.

This is already the second worst Ebola outbreak in history. Too many lives are at stake for it to become the biggest.

David MilibandNew YorkThe writer is president and chief executive of the International Rescue Committee.

To the Editor:

Your article presents a devastating portrait of the struggle to contain the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo. It is unfortunate that deep distrust in the affected communities has led to violence and attacks on health facilities and workers. In 2014, during the last major Ebola outbreak, in West Africa, similar fears and attacks on health workers occurred.

According to a recent report from Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, of which Drexel University is a member, last year at least 973 attacks on health workers, health facilities, health transports and patients took place in 23 countries involved in armed conflicts. Vaccination workers, paramedics, nurses, doctors, midwives, community volunteers, drivers and guards were all targeted, in violation of longstanding human rights and humanitarian law.

Trust needs to be restored with communities and governments, and we must expand efforts to protect health workers. Where attacks occur, immediate investigations must hold those responsible to account.

Joe AmonPhiladelphiaThe writer is director of global health at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health.