Ebola treatment facilities in DRC race to adapt to growing patient needs

Ituri province in eastern DR Congo is at the epicenter of the current Ebola outbreak and medical teams in the region are under pressure to handle the growing number of patients.

Treatment facilities are building new extensions to increase capacity and improve care conditions.

“We started in a building – there was a paediatric ward that had already been built by the CME Hospital, which had a paediatric building that wasn’t yet in use because it hadn’t been commissioned yet," explains Dr Patrice Kabongo, Case management focal point at the World Health Organization's DRC Country Office, speaking at a centre in the town of Bunia.

"So, when the outbreak hit, we saw that there was a good opportunity to start there. We tried to adapt the layout and make some adjustments to the situation in those buildings so that we could start admitting patients quickly."

As well as providing medical care, health workers are also working to build trust within communities - an essential factor in preventing the spread of the virus.

“Before, they didn’t understand what was happening inside as they weren’t allowed to come in," Kabongo says. "And when there was a death or when a patient wasn’t doing very well, they would come up with all sorts of theories. But now, they can see first-hand how the illness is progressing, how the patients are getting on."

According to health authorities, treatment capacity has risen from around ten beds at the start of the outbreak to some 700 beds across 22 centres. But demand remains high, with the centres operating at nearly 90 per cent of their capacity. Plans are in place to add a further 300 beds.

To date, Congolese authorities have recorded more than 1,500 confirmed cases of Ebola, including 506 deaths and 254 recoveries. More than 10,000 people who have been in contact with infected patients are being monitored, with a surveillance rate of around 82 per cent.