THE Church is “on the front line” of work to tackle the tide of misinformation which is exacerbating the rapid spread of a rare strain of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Bishop of Goma, the Rt Revd Martin Gordon, has said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 321 cases and suspects another 116 cases of the rare Bundibugyo strain in the country.
Bishop Gordon, a Church Mission Society (CMS) partner, said: “The Church is on the front line. We are at the heart of every village and community, and we are one of the few institutions still trusted to tell the truth.”
Restrictions on traditional burials have resulted in outbreaks of violence and the destruction of two treatment centres for the virus (News, 29 May). Several charities, including Christian Aid and Tearfund, have launched appeals for funds to support the affected communities.
Christian Aid said this week that it was distributing hygiene kits and mobilising pastors and priests to spread critical prevention messages in churches, schools, and marketplaces. Its Head of Global Humanitarian Response in the DRC, Salome Ntububa, said: “The only way to slow the spread is prevention: early action, clear information, and communities working together to stop the chain of transmission.
“Churches are playing a vital role in this response. Rooted in their communities and trusted by those they serve, they are uniquely placed to communicate life-saving information, challenge misinformation, and offer practical and spiritual support at a time of great uncertainty.”
The virus had, she said, “deepened an already critical humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC. Ebola is not just a health emergency. It is a crisis layered on to conflict, displacement, and poverty.”
Decades of conflict in the DRC, as well as long-term foreign-aid cuts by the United States and the UK, have severely weakened the resilience of its health systems. Last month, the Government announced that it would give £21 million to tackle this outbreak.
Bishop Gordon said: “We need support. . . The situation is dire in a region where USAID cuts in recent months have decimated health monitoring and where ten million people live under the M23 rebel authorities. For this Bundibugyo strain, there is no treatment . . . no cure, and a vaccine is a few months away at best.”
The CMS’s chief executive, Andy Roberts, said that Bishop Gordon and other church leaders had “shown extraordinary courage. When a health crisis of this magnitude strikes an area already experiencing socio-political vulnerability, the Church is often the primary safety net. They are not fleeing the danger: they are moving toward it with love, practical help, and hope.”
The epicentre of the outbreak is in the remote but densely populated Ituri province in the north of the DRC, which is also riven with conflict. There have also been 15 confirmed cases in Uganda. Lack of contact-tracing means that the outbreak is likely to be larger than is currently being reported, aid agencies have warned.
Nicholas Pande from the Anglican Alliance said that the “outbreak has once again exposed the tension between public-health protocols and cultural burial practices, with communities reportedly storming health facilities to retrieve Ebola victims’ bodies — a behaviour that significantly heightens transmission risk.
“In response, clergy and church health workers are leading mass awareness campaigns on prevention, challenging risky practices such as touching the deceased, while facilitating dignified burials — underscoring the Church’s unique and critical role in emergency response, given its deep community presence and trust.”
Five people infected by the strain recovered and were released from hospital after receiving early treatment.
The US Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse is constructing treatment centres in Bunia, the provincial capital, and at a partner hospital in Nyankunde, 45km south-west, training medical staff to protect themselves against the disease.