IOM’S RESPONSE FOCUS
Population Mobility Mapping (PMM) at border-crossings and in the affected province
Points of Entry (POE) surveillance (health screening)
Infection Prevention and Control measures (hygiene promotion) at POE
Risk communication at POE
Cross-border coordination between DRC, Central African Republic (CAR) and Republic of the Congo (ROC)
The Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in the Equateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been declared a public health emergency. IOM, the UN Migration Agency, is working closely with the Congolese Ministry of Health (MoH) and WHO to contain the outbreak and address the needs of affected communities.
Population mobility, including cross-border movements, was identified as a significant risk for disease transmission in this outbreak, as the epicentre of the disease is well linked with heavily populated areas through land and by the Congo River. In order to mitigate transmission risk and control the outbreak, IOM, MoH and WHO conducted joint assessments at various points of entry (POE) to DRC’s capital Kinshasa, to gauge the strength of the area's epidemiological surveillance system (photo below). IOM has supported the deployment of 16 epidemiologists, medical doctors, veterinarians, and hygiene specialists to key border areas to conduct POE surveillance, risk communication, infection prevention and control (IPC).
LEVERAGING THE EXPERTISE IN MIGRATION TO GUIDE THE EBOLA RESPONSE
IOM’S PARTNERSHIP & IMMEDIATE RESPONSE
IOM works closely with the Ministry of Health, particularly with the National Programme of Hygiene at Borders (PNHF), to support their response efforts and coordination at Points of Entry (POE). IOM is supporting PNHF’s surveillance activities at 30 sites (20 in Mbandaka, 3 in Bikoro, 2 Ntondo, 2 Iboko, 1 Ingenge, 1 Irebu) and 1 site in Lukolera of Mai Ndombe. The POE surveillance is conducted along with risk communication and hygiene promotion. IOM will soon provide on-site supervision and predeployment training to strengthen the POE surveillance capacity, and expand activities to Kinshasa and the areas along the Congo river in Mai Ndombe.
IOM is also conducting daily flow monitoring at 16 data collection sites in Mbandaka, Bikoro, Iboko, Ingenge and Lukolera, in order to understand the mobility volume and profiles of travelers, including internal and cross-border movements (to/from the Central African Republic and the Republic of the Congo).