Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders: Ebola outbreak threatens fragile local health system in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
This post by Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders addresses the impacts of Ebola and the outbreak response on the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) health care system. The post states, “[T]he health system, already under-resourced before the Ebola outbreak began, has been weakened even further as the disease spreads. … For health centers and hospitals in the region, the scale-up of the internationally funded Ebola response is both a blessing and a curse. Ebola response teams and international organizations setting up isolation and treatment facilities often improve infrastructure, pay for additional staff, and support primary health care services. But the local health workers needed in the Ebola response are almost exclusively hired from facilities in the area, which are now facing critical gaps in personnel…” (10/15).