The World Health Organization will include a focal point for the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse in supporting the Democratic Republic of Congo’s response to a new case of Ebola in the province of North Kivu.
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WHO will also ensure “mandatory pre-deployment training and refresher training” for any further staff deployment in the response, as well as setting up “reporting channels for alerts or complaints; prompt investigation of complaints; and monitoring” according to a news release.
Why this matters: A recent report alleged 21 WHO staff were involved in sexual exploitation and abuse during the Ebola response in 2018 to 2020 in DRC. The report also revealed structural issues in WHO’s management of risks of sexual exploitation and abuse in its operations. One of the recommendations put forward by the independent commission behind the report was for WHO to include a specialist on sexual exploitation and abuse prevention and response in future field emergency management teams.
What’s the context: WHO is supporting DRC’s health authorities in their investigation after the health ministry announced Friday a new confirmed case of Ebola in Butsili, an area near Beni, and one of the epicenters of the 2018 to 2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo.
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The case was a 3-year-old child who died on Oct. 6. Two children who tested positive for malaria, and their father who died in September were neighbors of the confirmed case, and were also suspected of contracting Ebola — although no samples were taken for Ebola testing.
A total of 148 contacts have been identified as of Oct. 9.
According to WHO, there is a risk of Ebola spreading to other health zones. The three suspected cases and the confirmed Ebola case were admitted in health facilities where infection prevention and control measures “might not have been optimal.” Ebola burial protocols were also not conducted.