Nurses and health workers in Mbandaka, in DR Congo's Equateur province, have agreed to join a cholera vaccination campaign while their strike continues. Radio Okapi reported that they made the decision this week. The campaign runs from November 6 to 15.
The seven health sector unions in Mbandaka reached the decision at an extraordinary session. Alain Lingoma, coordinator of the Equateur health inter-union, said the move responds to a humanitarian need. The outbreak is hitting the city and its surroundings hard. The unions first secured approval from their national leadership in Kinshasa.
"The cholera epidemic is severely shaking the city of Mbandaka and its surroundings. It is a situation we have never known," Lingoma said, according to Radio Okapi. Deaths have been recorded at treatment centres in Bolenge, Wangata and Mbandaka, he added. The aim, he said, is to save lives by breaking the chain of transmission in affected communities.
Lingoma stressed that the strike is not suspended. Nurses and health workers may take part in vaccination if they are selected, he said, calling it a humanitarian measure in the community's interest. Health centres, hospitals and administrative offices remain closed because of the general strike in the sector.
Teams will go door to door. The campaign will cover 15 of the 18 health zones affected by the outbreak in Equateur province. Health authorities hope it will sharply curb the spread of the disease and protect the people most at risk.