End of DRC's 10th Ebola outbreak "proof of what can be achieved when everyone pulls together"

Beni | 25 June 2020 | Save the Children

Save the Children is delighted at the announcement of end of the Ebola outbreak in north eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, as revealed by the government’s Health Minister and tweeted by the World Health Organisation’s Africa Regional Office.

This has been one of the longest and deadliest Ebola outbreaks. More than 2,000 people died from the virus from a total of nearly 3,500 cases. A third of all cases were among those aged under 18.

Save the Children UK’s Executive Director of Global Programmes, Gwen Hines, said:

“This is wonderful news and is proof of what can be achieved when everyone – across many organisations including the DRC government – pulls together with such dedication and commitment. Not only do we acknowledge their amazing work, we also owe them immense gratitude.”

"Within days of Ebola being declared an outbreak in August 2018, Save the Children deployed its Emergency Health Unit to respond to the crisis.

"Together with Save the Children’s DRC country team, the Emergency Health Unit trained more than 1,200 health workers and almost 1,000 community leaders, and reached more than 1 million people with information through our community campaigns.

"Communication with communities – especially children – is essential for addressing misinformation and rumours about Ebola, helping people understand how to protect themselves from the deadly disease and ensuring people who feel unwell seek medical treatment immediately.

"We also supported dozens of health facilities and built 15 Ebola triage points to both detect and prevent Ebola cases in children. Our work included building hand-washing stations and equipping healthcare workers with training and infection prevention as well as control materials such as gumboots, gloves, masks and suits."