OMM Newsroom
Ebola has spread to an eighth province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where hunger could force patients to interrupt treatment, the UN food agency warned on Friday, according to Anadolu Agency.
Nearly 3.5 million people in areas affected by the outbreak face crisis-level food insecurity, the World Food Program (WFP) said. Insecurity, damaged transport routes and bad weather are hampering relief operations.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, WFP country director David Stevenson said food assistance was vital to keeping patients in care and helping families comply with isolation requirements.
“Families need support so that hunger does not force them to interrupt care or take additional risks to find food. Where isolation is required, food assistance helps make it possible to comply,” Stevenson said.
“As the outbreak expands, sustaining these services helps keep patients in care and supports efforts to protect their families and limit further spread,” he added.
In an operational update, the WFP said 97% of people directly affected by the outbreak still need food assistance, as infections disrupt livelihoods and access to markets in communities already struggling with conflict and displacement.
The agency said it needs $214 million over the next six months to maintain emergency food deliveries, transportation services and construction of Ebola treatment facilities in eastern Congo. It warned that without timely, flexible funding, food assistance, responder and cargo transport, and support for treatment infrastructure could be interrupted.
Of the funding sought, $78.6 million would go toward meals and food rations for patients and their families.
The WFP has provided more than 744,000 hot meals across 59 treatment and isolation facilities and distributed over 3,000 metric tons of food to patients’ families.
Since the operation began, its humanitarian air service has transported more than 10,000 responders and 483 metric tons of cargo, the agency said.
The WFP has completed an Ebola treatment centre in Musienene, while another is under construction in Bunia.
