"Adapting our practices to respect dignity"

Democratic Republic of Congo | 08 January 2009

Luis Encinas is a nurse coordinating operations for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Until the first week of January, he headed the MSF team fighting an epidemic of deadly Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Kasai Occidental, in central Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Luis Encinas, is the Ebola epidemic spreading?

It’s difficult to say right now. Our team on the ground is still carrying out research to gain a better understanding of the epidemic. To date, a total of 42 people have developed symptoms resembling those of Ebola haemorrhagic fever, and 13 of them have died.

Where is the epicentre of the epidemic?

The epicentre is probably in a village called Kaluamba, 65 kilometres south of Mweka, the main town in the area. There are also suspected “metastases” — places where patients suspected of suffering from Ebola have been observed — in the villages of Kabau and Kalombayi, and in Mweka. In September and October 2007, MSF already responded to an Ebola outbreak. At that time, 46 patients were admitted to the isolation ward and 186 died in the space of a few months.

Given that there is no cure for Ebola, what role can the MSF team play?

Our work is structured around four main activities. First of all, we must isolate the patients, so they don't infect anyone else, but also so they can receive palliative medical care. Another part of the team — performing the second activity — goes into communities to look for sufferers, and monitors people who have been in contact with infected patients. Then, there's all the social mobilization work. In other words, raising people's awareness of the disease, its symptoms, the modes of transmission and prevention methods. Finally, we must make sure that healthcare is free throughout the epidemic. Why is that so important? Much of the population can't afford to pay for healthcare. It's a very unstable region, poverty is everywhere. Free care removes the financial barrier that prevents people from getting treatment. This makes it easier for us to identify people infected with Ebola, and to diagnose and treat other fatal diseases.