Ebola in DR Congo: Childhood deaths rise; hopes raised over new vaccine
Children and women continue to bear a disproportionate share of the outbreak in Ituri, the most affected province, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).The health crisis is unfolding in a province where nearly one million people have been displaced by conflict, with women and children accounting for around 80 per cent. Young lives lostThe outbreak emerged in mid-May and since then, more than 300 children have succumbed to the virus, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.Moreover, children make up nearly a quarter of confirmed cases, but almost a third of all deaths, the agency added.Earlier this week, the UN reported that the outbreak is also severely disrupting essential healthcare.“In the hardest-hit areas, use of health services has dropped by more than 40 percent in recent months, as fear of infection keeps people away,” UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists in New York.Pregnant women in perilThis fear, combined with overstretched health services, is preventing many pregnant women from seeking care. The warning by the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, comes as maternal deaths in Ituri have nearly doubled since the outbreak began.Roughly six women die each week from childbirth-related complications, while Ebola infection during pregnancy remains associated with almost universal fetal loss. Humanitarians stressed that restoring community confidence is key. In this regard, some 13,000 community workers have been deployed by the Congolese health ministry and partners, including the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC), UNICEF and sister UN agency the World Health Organization (WHO).
