WFP says food insecurity, aid cuts hampering Ebola response in DR Congo

The Ebola outbreak and food insecurity are deeply intertwined, the World Food Programme’s Ituri bureau chief told the Associated Press on Monday.

“There are health measures that suggest that people be contained in areas, but if these people are not receiving food assistance, they are not going to stay in the areas of containment,” said Olivier Nkakudulu, the bureau chief.

“They are going to look for food. They will have to go in the markets and by passing through the markets, they can infect other people."

More than 26.5 million people in the DRC are facing acute hunger, according to UN-backed food security experts.

Meanwhile, the Ebola outbreak now has over 900 suspected cases and more than 220 suspected deaths, the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Monday.

The current Ebola outbreak spread unnoticed for weeks as health authorities tested for the more common Zaire strain before they realized this outbreak was caused by a much rarer strain — Bundibugyo.

Several agencies have flown tons of aid into Bunia, meant to assist the three hardest-hit Congolese towns of Bunia, Rwampara and Mongbwalu.

The mistrust among commoners has made Ebola response efforts difficult.

Two of the three treatment centers set up in the three towns have been burnt down by local residents.

Furthermore, funding constraints have made the situation worse.

“From the perspective of WFP, there is a shortfall in resources for this year of 218 million US dollars,” Nkakudulu said.

According to health experts, last year's international aid cuts by the United States and other rich nations devastated eastern Congo, reducing the region's capacity to respond to infectious disease outbreaks.

Aid groups fighting this outbreak on the ground say they do not have the equipment they need, such as face shields and suits to protect health workers from infection, testing kits, body bags and materials needed to safely bury the bodies of victims, which can otherwise be highly contagious.