Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide is scaling up its efforts to contain a major outbreak of Ebola, which has already killed 1,117 people and infected 1,680 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)*.
Irish Aid has provided €200,000 over the past nine months and now is providing an additional €360,000 to continue supporting Concern’s work to reduce the spread of the fatal disease, in what is the second largest Ebola outbreak in history and the biggest in the DRC.
The number of Ebola deaths has risen by 201 per cent since the start of the year from 370 on January 2 to 1,117 on May 11, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“New hotspots are still emerging and the number of confirmed cases of Ebola continues to rise,” Concern’s Regional Director for Francophone Africa, Reka Sztopa, said.
“We are working with communities so that they are prepared should there be suspected cases of Ebola in their locality.”
The Irish Aid funding will be used to assist 23 health centres in North Kivu, in the east of the DRC.
Concern staff will provide infection prevention control kits to the centres and train 1,150 health workers in how to use them.
They will also rehabilitate water points, showers and toilets at the health centres. In addition, they will provide Ebola awareness sessions to 400,000 people.