SRT File: MSF371656

1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,799
So in the three weeks that I've been here, one,

2
00:00:02,799 --> 00:00:05,040
it feels more like three months than three weeks,

3
00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:07,440
so much has happened.

4
00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:15,720
But we have a project in the epicentre of the outbreak in Mongbwalu.

5
00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,559
It's a mining town.

6
00:00:18,559 --> 00:00:25,760
It has a community that is already underserved in terms of healthcare.

7
00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:30,199
And it's been severely impacted by this disease.

8
00:00:30,199 --> 00:00:34,039
You have healthcare workers who have seen

9
00:00:34,039 --> 00:00:36,240
not only their loved ones die,

10
00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,520
but their fellow workers.

11
00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,359
We have a team in there that have come

12
00:00:42,359 --> 00:00:47,560
from all over Congo and outside of Congo to support,

13
00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,920
but it is completely overwhelming in terms of the needs.

14
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,000
We find a new need every day.

15
00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:02,200
We have patients coming in at the very, very end stage of their disease.

16
00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:11,120
They are already having vomiting, diarrhea, really, really weak,

17
00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:15,239
and it's heartbreaking because sometimes

18
00:01:15,239 --> 00:01:20,200
you see the same family group over again over time now because

19
00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:24,280
what started with one person has been transmitting at a household level

20
00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:28,319
and incomes the next person.

21
00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:33,319
It's a team that is trying to do everything that they possibly can

22
00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:35,840
to ensure that people survive,

23
00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:43,359
yet still has to sometimes take care of four dead bodies overnight.

24
00:01:43,359 --> 00:01:49,560
And the impact that that has on them and their ability

25
00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:54,439
to continue to be optimistic and to provide healthcare

26
00:01:54,439 --> 00:01:57,799
and keep their spirits up is, you know, you really,

27
00:01:57,799 --> 00:01:59,760
you see it and you feel it.

28
00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,159
Everyone is running around trying to go as fast as they can

29
00:02:03,159 --> 00:02:06,319
to provide the best possible care in a situation

30
00:02:06,319 --> 00:02:11,840
where we just have no understanding of the actual transmission chains

31
00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,000
and the extent of the outbreak.

32
00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,840
We know that there's multiple community deaths every day.

33
00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:26,199
The deaths in the community outweigh by a significant proportion,

34
00:02:26,199 --> 00:02:30,680
the number of confirmed cases that are alive.

35
00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,840
On average, the testing of the last few weeks,

36
00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:42,080
the results will be that two thirds of the confirmed tests are dead.

37
00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:43,919
They're from people who have died.

38
00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:47,000
They are not people who we are catching early and can seek care.

39
00:02:48,599 --> 00:02:53,400
And this situation in Mongbwalu is a reflection

40
00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,719
of the overall situation here in Ituri.

41
00:02:58,039 --> 00:03:02,439
We know that there are a number of other locations

42
00:03:02,439 --> 00:03:07,599
between Bunia and Mongbwalu in the north west

43
00:03:07,599 --> 00:03:11,960
that have confirmed cases that currently have very little to no support,

44
00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:17,159
because the system is not able to scale up with the need.

45
00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,319
In Bunia, certainly from our staff and our team here,

46
00:03:22,319 --> 00:03:24,919
there's not a single person of our Congolese colleagues

47
00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:27,960
who are not impacted with everything

48
00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,280
from being on a contact list of a confirmed case

49
00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,719
or a relative who has passed away

50
00:03:34,719 --> 00:03:39,240
through to not being able to access a health facility

51
00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:43,560
because a health care worker has been confirmed

52
00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,520
and there are actually multiple health care workers in that facility

53
00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,039
that are now having to quarantine

54
00:03:50,039 --> 00:03:52,439
or are in hospital due to the illness

55
00:03:52,439 --> 00:03:55,199
and it's shutting things down consistently.

56
00:03:56,199 --> 00:04:00,800
It's like a scale I haven't seen in a really, really long time.

57
00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,240
So I have been doing this for more than a decade.

58
00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:10,759
And the last time that I saw it this bad was at the beginning of West Africa.

59
00:04:10,759 --> 00:04:18,199
This is the largest outbreak that Congo has seen for many years.

60
00:04:18,199 --> 00:04:19,240
I can't go back more than 10,

61
00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:20,680
but certainly the last few outbreaks

62
00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,639
have not been of this scale or of this magnitude.

63
00:04:25,439 --> 00:04:31,319
It's not the end. There is still hope.

64
00:04:31,319 --> 00:04:36,399
If we can increase the capacity of the response,

65
00:04:36,399 --> 00:04:38,600
decentralize treatment,

66
00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:42,199
get more testing capacity into DRC across

67
00:04:42,199 --> 00:04:44,680
not just Ituri, but the other provinces

68
00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:50,360
that are going to continue to see cases as people move,

69
00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:53,560
and make sure that we have that system in place

70
00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,879
so that people can get early treatment, access care.

71
00:04:57,879 --> 00:05:00,839
In order to do that, we really have to build trust.

72
00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:06,160
Because right now we're in a really horrible catch-22 situation

73
00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,199
where because people are not coming early,

74
00:05:09,199 --> 00:05:12,920
the number of people dying is very high and when people die,

75
00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,160
the community and their loved ones,

76
00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,399
they just don't trust that that's a place that they can go and survive.

77
00:05:20,079 --> 00:05:22,360
So we need to break that cycle.

78
00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,079
We need to build the trust

79
00:05:25,079 --> 00:05:29,439
so that they will want to bring their loved ones to us

80
00:05:29,439 --> 00:05:31,680
with the knowledge that they will come out the other end

81
00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,560
and it's not just a scary hospital

82
00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,720
where people go and the next time they see them

83
00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:42,040
is when the burial teams come to take them to the cemetery.