IOM Says on November 10 That Ebola Preparedness Work Has Supported More Than 55 Million Traveller Screenings, With 71 Confirmed Cases Found Among Mobile Populations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Geneva — Dr Andrew Mbala, the International Organization for Migration's Regional Ebola Coordinator, told a Geneva briefing on November 10 that the frontlines of an Ebola response were not only treatment centres, isolation wards and hospitals, but also border crossings, ports, airports, transit hubs, displacement sites, markets and the mobility corridors connecting communities and provinces.
Mbala said that when official border crossings were closed or restricted, movement did not stop, as people continued to travel for trade, family reasons, access to services and livelihoods, often using informal routes, so Ebola preparedness must extend beyond the official point of entry.
Transmission in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo was concentrated in Ituri and North Kivu, provinces linked by extensive trade routes, population movements and cross-border connections with neighbouring countries, he said.
Since the start of the current outbreak, IOM teams had supported more than 55 million traveller screenings, about 350,000 screenings per day, in affected and at-risk countries, Mbala said, and disease surveillance at IOM supported points of entry and points of control inside the country had identified 71 confirmed Ebola cases among mobile populations.
IOM faced a USD 59.8 million funding gap, out of a request of USD 110 million for a multi-country preparedness and response plan, he said.
Mbala also said IOM was not managing the Kigonze camp for internally displaced people, and that when that camp was closed for security reasons it hosted 1,200 Ebola contacts, with partners working to make sure those contacts were identified within the community.
Christian Lindmeier, speaking for the World Health Organization at the same briefing, said the screenings were an important service to people, to detect whether they were infected with Ebola, cholera or any other disease and get help and treatment.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons 词条主图：Ebola
