PHOTO: Child who died of Ebola being buried in North Kivu province in DRC. Photo credit: Photo: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham/EPA.
According to reports by BBC Africa, a journalist has been killed for raising awareness about Ebola virus that has killed killed about 2000 people in Democractic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Papy Mumbere Mahamba was a prominent journalist who had been raising awareness about Ebola, was killed in his home by unidentified attackers, wounding his wife and burning down their house. People putting a noticeable effort to put an end and/or raise awareness about the virus are always targeted and attacked. Will Rose, a BBC World Service’s Africa said there has been over dozens of attacks on health centers and on people working to stop Ebola.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the situation there was a “public health emergency of international concern.” The Ebola situation is getting worse by the day, as over 2000 deaths have been recorded since 2018 amidst a total of 3000 infected with the virus.
Thoughts have it that the violence by unknown attackers on people raising awareness about the virus is because the natives believe that the virus isn’t real and could lead to mistrust of those working in the sector.
The death of the journalists, was confirmed by Professor Steve Ahuka, national coordinator of the fight against Ebola that a co-worker involved in the fight against the virus. Dr Congo is experiencing the second worst Ebola epidemic.
The outbreak is affecting the DRC’s North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. The attacks by the unknown groups of people is hampering and slowing down the fight against the virus and it only keeps endangering the population, as the virus continues to spread all over the territory. The recent kiling of the journalist has aggravated fear in the health personnel in the area, hence slowing down treatment.
