The move comes as the death toll from the disease reached 1,405 and the number infected hit 2,084 in the DRC*.
It also follows confirmation of the first deaths from the disease in neighbouring Uganda.
Concern’s Area Coordinator, Mark Johnson, from Dublin, confirmed that the Irish charity would scale up its work in Southern Lubero, which is at the epicentre of the outbreak and accounts for 46 per cent of all deaths to date.
The number of deaths, in what is the second largest Ebola outbreak in history and the biggest in the DRC, has risen by 280 per cent since the start of the year, from 370 on January 2 to 1,405 on June 11, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Irish Aid has provided €560,000 over the past nine months to support Concern’s work to reduce the spread of the fatal disease. This funding has been used to assist 23 health centres in North Kivu in helping to prepare communities for the event of Ebola occurring in their area.
Concern staff are providing infection prevention control kits to the centres and training 1,150 health workers in how to use them.
They are rehabilitating water points, showers and toilets at the health centres, as well as providing Ebola awareness sessions to 400,000 people. Concern also has plans to scale up operations in the coming weeks.
Concern has been working in the DRC since 1994 and will continue to engage with communities as part of a strategy developed by the DRC government, non-government organisations, WHO and UNICEF.
“We have been working in Southern Lubero since April, where our approach has been to recruit local staff who will engage with local communities and local chiefs, not just about Ebola, but about the needs in their area,” said Mark Johnson.
“This may involve providing latrines for schools or rehabilitating local water points. It is a way of gaining confidence, which makes it easier to also disseminate information about Ebola and what to do if there is a case in their community. “