Community members attacked an Ebola treatment center in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, causing staff and suspected Ebola patients to flee. Additional attacks occurred on another medical facility within days. Health responders reported shock and urgency, asking what the response should be. Trust-building was identified as the key need. Past Ebola outbreaks showed similar patterns, especially around deaths and burial practices, where tension grows. High Ebola death rates can lead people to believe patients are being killed by aid workers. Panic and fear spread through rumors on social media, including claims that Ebola is not real and that humanitarian workers or aid groups act for profit or withhold help.
"“I was really shocked,” says Dr. Babou Rukengeza. He's talking about the footage he saw on social media of flames and charred bedframes at an Ebola treatment center in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Community members attacked the facility on Thursday, May 21. By the end of the weekend there were two other attacks on a different medical facility treating Ebola patients. Staff and suspected Ebola patients fled in the midst of the chaos."
"Rukengeza found himself asking: “What will be our response?” And he had an answer: “We have to build trust.” Rukengeza is the Ebola Response Health Lead for Save the Children in his native Democratic Republic of Congo, where he is based. It's been less than two weeks since the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. In that short time, mistrust between communities and health providers has been evident."
"“They believed that everyone that came in [to the clinic] was killed,” she says. Since the death rate of Ebola patients was “extremely high,” people imagined that aid workers were murdering them. She says this type of panic, fear and misinformation fuel the tension that emerges in the wake of a growing outbreak."
"Today, rumors circulating on social media in the DRC include false claims that Ebola is not real, that humanitarian workers are descending on the area solely for their own profit and that aid groups are withholdin"
#ebola-outbreak #community-mistrust #health-facility-attacks #misinformation-and-rumors #public-health-response
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