Aller au contenu principal

DRC: Plague outbreak in Ituri - Operation Update 2, DREF No. MDRCD035

Pays
RD Congo
Sources
IFRC
Date de publication
Origine
Voir l'original

Summary of the main revisions made to the Emergency Action Plan:

This operational update is to inform on the progress of the implementation in response to the plague outbreak in the health zone of Rethy in Ituri. Initially updated on 29 July 2022 to inform on the case of pneumonic plague officially declared by the Ministry of Health and extending the strategy to respond to the 2 plague epidemics during the additional 2 months. This operation update 2 aims at consolidating DRC RC’s exit strategy through an additional month extension (new end date: 31 October 2022), for overall operational timeframe of 6 months, although the disease is not yet completely defeated.

The main changes supported by this update are as follows:

• Consolidation of DRC RC exit strategy based on the establishment of hygiene committees in all villages constituting health areas affected by the plague epidemic. Requiring close monitoring for a time before they become accountable.

• Long-term capitalization of the disinfestation and community sanitation activity, which allowed the National Society to reverse the trend of the epidemiological curve.

• Finalize the installation of 2,000 beds according to the list developed by community leaders based on their criteria.

Given its role as an auxiliary to the public authorities, the DRC RC is therefore required, in accordance with the indications of the Ministry of Health and WHO, to update the operational plan for greater impact with the following changes undertaken:

• Maintain the total objective of the operation to reach 241,162 people.

• The direct target will be maintained at 88,087 people in 7 affected health areas (Lokpa, Rassia, Uketha, Rethy, Kpandroma, Gudjo and Terali in the Rethy Health Zone).

• Community prevention activities, the National Society maintains actions in 14 health areas near the affected health areas.

• It will involve capacity building in, CEA, WASH and PSS through the following main activities:

• Increase contact tracing capacity in the above 14 health areas and infection prevention.

• Strengthening the RCCE strategy by increasing the teams' capacities to focus on radio, feedback system including the strengthening of interpersonal communication skills, necessary for the effective continuation of health education actions on the fight against the plague. Improve the mechanism for informing communities about the disease to increase community-based surveillance in villages.

• Sensitize all target populations in a positive way to build granaries to separate community members (households) from agricultural and pastoral products that attract rodents (sources of contamination).

• Strengthen flea control capacity/ interventions to control fleas and rodents with

- Support hygiene committees in each village that will support the promotion of individual hygiene messages and the implementation of all sanitation activities around households.

- Support health areas in the disinfestation of households.

• Deployment of a DRC RC Information Management (IM) Focal Point in Bunia (Ituri)

• The planned deployment of Surge is cancelled due to security regulations in place in Bunia, which do not authorize them to operate in the health zones of Bunia as well as the international presence of staff. However, the IFRC team based in Kinshasa and Bunia continues to provide the necessary remote support to the DRC RC as part of this operation.