Frontline doctors and healthcare workers battling the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo say they have not been paid since the crisis began and are threatening to strike.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared its 17th Ebola outbreak on 15 May. Nearly two months later, the health response is still struggling to contain the virus in a country whose already fragile health system suffers from chronic shortages.
According to the latest official figures released on Tuesday, 719 people have died and 1,963 have been infected. The National Institute of Public Health said 112 healthcare workers have contracted the disease, including 35 who have died.
At the Ebola treatment centre in Rwampara, one of the worst-affected areas in Ituri province, healthcare workers burned tyres on Monday and briefly blocked access to the site in protest. The locality has recorded 384 cases, including 89 deaths.
“We have been treating Ebola patients since 15 May without being paid,” Dr Pascal Bahoya, a doctor at the centre, told AFP on Monday. “We continue to care for them because it is our duty, but we are working in very difficult conditions.”
The doctors said they had issued a 48-hour ultimatum for their salaries and bonuses to be paid. If nothing changes, they warned, they will begin an all-out strike with no minimum service.
During a visit to Ituri on Thursday, Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba acknowledged delays in payment and said the organisational problems behind them would be resolved.
