Church builds on Ebola response in Congo

Key Points:

• The United Methodist Church is building a 50-bed treatment center in East Congo supported by $100,000 from the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
• A large-scale media and community response led by United Methodist Communications and Global Ministries is reaching thousands through text messages, flyers, radio spots and video.
• Clergy and lay leaders in villages and local churches are helping combat misinformation.

The United Methodist Church is strengthening its Ebola response in eastern Congo, including building a new treatment center and mobilizing communities through a large-scale communications campaign.

According to health authorities, geographical spread of the outbreak is beginning to stabilize. However, Dr. Philippe Okonda, head of Ebola response operations for the church’s East Congo Health Board, said he remains cautious.

“To date, we have not yet entered the overall decline phase of the outbreak ... . But that does not diminish the significant response efforts being implemented every day,” Okonda said, noting that the number of people who have recovered is increasing — a sign that medical care is improving.

The outbreak has now spread to seven provinces and 63 of the country’s 167 health zones, according to a report published Sept. 19 by the DRC’s National Institute of Public Health. The country has recorded 7,672 confirmed cases, 3,699 related deaths and 1,879 recoveries since the start of the crisis in May. Approximately 886 patients are currently hospitalized or in isolation, the institute reports.

Health authorities also emphasize that this Ebola outbreak — the 17^th recorded in the DRC — differs from previous ones in terms of its rate of spread and that there is no approved vaccine. On Sept. 21, the World Health Organization announced that an Ebola vaccine trial has begun for frontline health workers and others involved in the response. WHO said 20,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine have been allocated for the research vaccination program in Ituri province.

The response also has been challenged by a shortage of medical personnel, a lack of hospital beds, insecurity linked to population displacement — particularly in the eastern part of the country — and difficulties in conducting contact tracing in certain areas.

“First and foremost, you must avoid all physical contact, because Ebola cannot be treated with nebulization, unlike what we saw with COVID-19 … . With Ebola, the key is to avoid contact,” said Dr. Bienvenu Ikomo Bitalo, head of the Ebola response in Kisangani.

The health coordination team of The United Methodist Church in Eastern Congo has begun construction of an Ebola treatment center at the Bambu General Referral Hospital, located in the Bambu health zone in Djugu territory, about 40 kilometers from Bunia. The center will have 30 beds to start, with a total capacity of 50 beds once fully completed.

The project is supported by a $100,000 grant from the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries’ Global Health unit. That covers the construction of the center, its equipment, the strengthening of infection prevention and control measures, as well as the support of certain mobilized technical staff members. Through a separate grant from the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the United Methodist health coordination office also will provide nutritional support for patients and staff working at the center.

“Once operational, this center will significantly strengthen the region’s capacity to detect, isolate and rapidly treat suspected or confirmed cases,” said Dr. Damas Lushima, general coordinator of the East Congo Health Board. “It will also help reduce transfer times, the risk of community transmission and the strain on existing health facilities.”

In July, United Methodist Communications and Global Ministries committed to strengthening the church’s long-term response to Ebola in Central Africa. The church agencies allocated nearly $80,000 to support the five episcopal regions of the Central Africa Regional Conference — Eastern Congo, Northern Katanga and Tanzania, Southern Congo and Zambia, Tanganyika and Central Congo — with communication efforts and other initiatives in the fight against Ebola.

In the East Congo Episcopal Area — the epicenter of the outbreak — United Methodist Communications and Global Ministries each provided $13,000 grants to fund more than 160,000 text messages in three annual conferences, as well as the broadcast of 450 radio spots and 30 video spots on RTNC Kisangani television.

More than 6,000 posters and flyers and about 100 banners have already been displayed across five key cities in the region.

According to Judith Yanga Osongo, communications director for the East Congo Episcopal Area, all messaging was done in accordance with guidelines from the Congolese Ministry of Health and adapted to local languages and contexts. Similar activities are being carried out in the North Katanga, Tanganyika and South Congo-Zambia episcopal areas.

Osongo said that the church’s overall strategy received official praise during a meeting with Dr. Cagod Inkale, the national communications director for the Ebola response.

Beyond the hospital walls, the East Congo Health Board has established a community network composed of religious leaders, lay leaders and community liaisons in three health zones in the Rwampara area. These stakeholders regularly organize community dialogue sessions, educational talks and outreach awareness campaigns — particularly during religious activities.

“We have also identified and mobilized 20 local churches — both Methodist and non-Methodist — as permanent venues for awareness-raising,” Dr. Lushima said. “To date, data collected from community leaders and community liaisons indicate that 124,328 people have been reached by prevention messages in churches and within communities.”

This listening effort led a delegation to travel to Bambu, in the Djugu territory, for a direct dialogue with the population. Listening to what people are saying in the community allows the team to better tailor its awareness efforts.  

In Bunia, an awareness-raising session organized at the local Dele Church made a particularly strong impression on residents of an outlying neighborhood often overlooked by such campaigns. The community appreciated that the church chose to raise awareness “right on our doorstep,” rather than concentrating posters, banners and meetings in the city center, as is often the case.

“Community dialogues show us that the population is gradually beginning to understand the disease,” Osongo said. “However, a major challenge remains: The death rate in the community is still high compared to that recorded at the hospital.”

Community resistance — refusal to report suspected cases, mistrust of response teams and, in the most serious cases, incidents targeting treatment centers — remains a challenge for the response.

According to Okonda, this resistance stems from a combination of factors: mistrust due to intercommunal conflicts affecting the region; high-risk funeral rituals perceived as sacred; poverty, which limits access to water and basic services; and misinformation fueled by rumors.

“Some people believe that the disease is a fabrication by certain health workers intended to destroy their communities,” Okonda said. However, he said there has been a significant decline in attacks on treatment centers, which he credits to the communications efforts.

Those efforts have not been limited to the epicenter in Ituri. In the Central Congo area, the communications department also has launched a campaign targeting both Kinshasa and rural communities, where access to health information often remains limited.

In Ekomakoko, a village located in the Central Congo region, an awareness-raising session helped dispel widespread misconceptions about the disease.

Dihadjo Otshudi Beatrice, a participant, said she was pleased with the awareness campaign. “I used to think this disease only affected people living in Kinshasa,” she said. “But now I understand that even in the village, I need to protect myself.”

The Rev. Fiston Okito, director of communications for the Central Congo area, described a top-down strategy, from the highest levels of the church down to the local parishes. The team combines traditional media, digital platforms and internal church networks.

“We are actively working with Methodist women, men and youth, as well as pastors in the Kin-Central district. In addition, awareness messages are continuously shared in our various online groups to reach more people,” Okito said.

For Lushima, the experience in Eastern Congo illustrates a core belief of the United Methodist response: Medical infrastructure alone is not enough.

“When a community understands the measures put in place, participates in the dialogue and recognizes its religious and community leaders as part of the response, mistrust diminishes and collaboration becomes possible. The treatment center and community mobilization are thus two inseparable pillars of our intervention,” Lushima said.

Okonda said sustained mobilization is key to providing a holistic response to the epidemic, with the institutions of The United Methodist Church working alongside the government and other partners.

“These institutions need the support of all of us to further improve the quality and coverage of the response to the epidemic. As an organization that professes faith in Jesus Christ, we must continue to mobilize and provide the necessary assistance to affected individuals and families.”

Londe is a UM News correspondent based in the Congo.

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