One man works to slow the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history, and he's doing it unpaid - AP News
Health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are struggling to contain a record-breaking Ebola outbreak while working without pay. The lack of financial support has led to strikes and disrupted critical care efforts.
Why it matters
The failure to pay frontline workers threatens global health security by allowing a deadly virus to spread unchecked in a conflict-prone region.
Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Wiza Bondele goes to work every day at a hospital in Congo with one goal in mind: to slow the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record.
At an Ebola treatment hospital in the eastern Ituri province, the epicenter of Congo’s ongoing outbreak, Bondele disinfects contaminated areas, checks visitors’ temperatures and enforces handwashing protocols — work that puts him at risk of getting infected.
But like hundreds of other front-line health workers, including burial teams and drivers, Bondele says he has been working without pay since the outbreak was declared in mid-May in one of Congo’s most remote and conflict-hit regions .
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in