By Sarah McMillan/cvnznews.com
Samaritan’s Purse is airlifting an Ebola Treatment Center and personal protective equipment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in response to the deadly Ebola outbreak. Disaster response specialists—including an outbreak specialist; infection, prevention and control specialist; and medical personnel—have recently deployed and more team members are on the way.
The team’s initial focus will be to help establish effective infection, prevention, and control protocols for local mission hospitals and communities in the DRC as well as to coordinate with the Ministry of Health to establish an Ebola Treatment Center to be operated by Samaritan’s Purse. This facility will be an emergency field hospital specifically adapted to treat Ebola patients.
The Samaritan’s Purse 767 cargo plane will airlift more than 34 tons of essential medical supplies to help combat the spread of this deadly virus. Local hospitals are desperate to receive the protective equipment for their healthcare providers. Our aircraft will land in Uganda and then supplies will be transported to the neighboring DRC. We have a large country office in the DRC already working in Jesus’ Name to provide many kinds of relief and ministry to people in need.
“Samaritan’s Purse has been on the frontlines of fighting Ebola for more than a decade, and we aren’t going to stop now. We are going to do everything we can to help save lives,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “We want people to know that God loves them, and they are not alone.”
Graham added: “As this deadly Ebola virus spreads so does people’s fear and uncertainty. They are in desperate need of emergency medical relief and supplies to help prevent the spread of this outbreak. That’s why Samaritan’s Purse is airlifting supplies to the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
During the height of the Ebola outbreak in Liberia in 2014, Samaritan’s Purse opened an Ebola Treatment Center—giving hands-on patient care—and combatted infection rates by providing hygiene training and prevention education across affected communities. Through a massive public education campaign, which included thousands of church leaders, Samaritan’s Purse provided potentially life-saving information to more than 1.6 million people.
Just a few years later, in 2018, Samaritan’s Purse established an Ebola Treatment Center in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, caring for more than 600 patients and continuing to educate communities on best practices to help stop the spread of the disease.