A Nigerian professor of virologist believes the current Ebola in DR Congo will not end anytime soon. In an exclusive interview with healthnews.africa in Abuja Nigeria, Prof Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian professor of virology, revealed that the worsening Ebola outbreak in DR Congo is a product of decadence and poor governance.
“DR Congo will continue to struggle because of decadence and poor governance,” Tomori told healthnews.africa.
Latest figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that the outbreak is spreading to new locations even as the number of new cases continue to raise. The outbreak has extended southwards to high security risk areas. Responders are also struggling with community mistrust.
Prof. Tomori attributed the problems that are complicating the country’s Ebola control efforts to poor governance, poor accountability responsibility.
“Ebola has occurred in DR Congo about 10 times now but it has not become a major thing because of 2 reasons. Where Ebola occurred in those days have been underdeveloped. I was in Kikwit in 1995. We had to fly because there is no road between Kinshasha and Kikwit. Many parts of DR Congo are like that,” Tomori told healthnews.africa
Describing the aftermath of the setbacks, Tomori said in the areas that are difficult to reach, the disease occurs in there and burns itself out because nobody travels to the zone.
“Right now, there is insurgency, there is war, there is insecurity. Rebels, warriors, arms sellers are there. The disease is spreading. Because of the insecurity, you cannot go and administer treatment and you can’t follow up the cases. That is why it is spreading. And it will continue to spread until there is peace in the country,” the expert said.
