Ebola outbreak takes heavy toll on women, children in eastern DR Congo: UN
The UN reports that women and children are disproportionately affected by the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ituri province. The crisis has severely disrupted healthcare access, leading to a rise in maternal deaths and fetal loss.
Why it matters
The intersection of disease outbreaks and humanitarian displacement creates a critical public health emergency that requires targeted community intervention.
Ebola outbreak | Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
Women and children continue to bear a disproportionate burden of the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where nearly one million people have been displaced, the UN said.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday that about 80 per cent of those displaced in Ituri are women and children.
According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), children account for nearly one-third of all Ebola-related deaths, despite making up about a quarter of confirmed cases.
The outbreak has also severely disrupted access to essential healthcare. In the worst-affected areas of Ituri, the use of health services has fallen by more than 40 per cent in recent months as fear of infection keeps people away, UNICEF said.
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