UN Warns Violence Against Healthcare Workers Hampers DRC Ebola Response

Healthcare workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been coming under attack, the United Nations and Red Cross have warned, hampering efforts to stem the spread of the Ebola virus, which is spreading 'exponentially'. More than 260 healthcare workers have been attacked in the past six months and eight have been killed, warned United Nations Ebola coordinator Julien Harneis. "Fear translates into angry young men who start throwing stones at their object of fear, the ambulance," he said on Friday from the northeastern city of Bunia. He described incidents in which ambulances have been burned and health facilities attacked. Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn The attacks are "obviously terrifying because people are already risking their lives to deal with Ebola," Harneis said, noting that about 160 healthcare workers have themselves fallen ill with Ebola and 43 have died. DR Congo Ebola outbreak 'growing exponentially' with more than 2,500 dead The Red Cross reported 11 incidents against its volunteers in the DRC , nine of whom have been injured, while some ambulances and equipment damaged and destroyed in attacks. The latest incident was last Wednesday in Beni, in North Kivu province, where three volunteers were assaulted and equipment destroyed. Two other volunteers had been injured the previous day in Haut-Uélé while attempting to carry out burial, and a convoy of the Ugandan Red Cross in Aru, in Ituri, on 17 August was attacked, injuring several members and three ambulances were hit with stones and vandalised. Cash transfers disrupted Aid workers have said that some residents believe conspiracy theories that the outbreak is a hoax, and others have reacted angrily to restrictions preventing them from personally burying loved ones who have died from Ebola. The epidemic, which has killed 2,606 people among the 5,458 confirmed cases, is "growing exponentially", Harneis warned. "The epidemic is spreading to an area that is bigger than France, and the outbreak is growing faster and wider than the Ebola response," he said. Ebola outbreak spreads in DRC as misinformation hampers response "All of this is happening in an area that has had three decades of conflict and is generating huge humanitarian needs." Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The International Red Cross said every incident involving its volunteers or equipment made it harder to respond to the epidemic . Another challenge is paying the tens of thousands of people hired to tackle the outbreak, Harneis said. Banking services have been disrupted after the government stopped commercial flights which were used to transport cash to banks. Read or Listen to this story on the RFI website. AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals , representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica . To address comments or complaints, please Contact us . AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa - aggregating, producing and distributing 500 news and information items daily from over 90 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitti