Four months since the WHO declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern, discover how epidemic preparedness efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have helped the DRC Red Cross to respond more effectively.
“The first symptom was fever. The next day, I noticed the appearance of spots. They burned like a rash. They spread everywhere on my body. I thought: what kind of disease is this?”
Basele from Mbandaka, Équateur province is one of more than 8000 people confirmed to have caught mpox in DRC this year amid an alarming surge in cases. Fortunately, Basele was quickly pointed in the right direction by the DRC Red Cross to get the support she needed to recover and limit the spread of infection.
“The Red Cross volunteers came to my home. They told me that the disease was contagious, that if someone in my family gets sick we can all become infected in our house. So we have to get off our feet and go to the hospital when the illness starts,” explains Basele.
Mpox is the latest in a long line of epidemics to hit DRC, with the country suffering from recurrent outbreaks of cholera, Ebola and measles—among other diseases—in recent years.
The DRC Red Cross has learned many lessons from responding to these health crises. And through the Community Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Programme (CP3), with funding from USAID and technical support from IFRC, the National Society has done lots of work in recent years to prepare its volunteers, communities and partners to leap into action against mpox.
Early detection, early action, healthier communities
Through the CP3 programme, more than 300 Red Cross volunteers in Équateur had already been trained in epidemic control and community-based surveillance (CBS)—gaining the knowledge, skills and tools needed to be able to rapidly detect and report potential mpox cases. Since the escalation of the epidemic, this training has been expanded and delivered to a further 700+ volunteers in the province.
Together, these volunteers play a vital role in their communities finding people showing mpox symptoms, alerting local health authorities through a digital CBS system, and encouraging people to seek help at mpox treatment centres.
“With regard to CP3, we work in close collaboration with Red Cross volunteers. They go out into the community, they look for sick people, they bring them to the health centre... we take care of them here at our mpox site,” explains Monique Itala Mulo, Head Nurse at Mama Elikya Referral Health Centre in Mbandaka.
By quickly finding and reporting suspected mpox cases, and encouraging people to seek treatment, the risk of the disease spreading is reduced. The National Society and local health authorities also use the data collected through CBS to inform their response activities.
Trust built over time enables wide reach and access
As members of the communities they serve, DRC Red Cross volunteers are known and trusted by the local population in Équateur and benefit from wide reach and access. Before the current surge in mpox cases, volunteers were already reaching far and wide into communities to raise awareness about the disease and tell people to stay safe.
“We go door-to-door to speak to people in their homes. We go to schools, we go to churches, we go to hot spots—markets, ports, entry points, checkpoints—any places where we can interact with the community. The community is starting to raise [mpox] alerts themselves. In other words, the impact is already positive,” says Dr Leblanc Monzeba, Head of Health Division in the Équateur branch of DRC Red Cross.
Having already established deep and trusting relationships with communities, volunteers are able to effectively challenge mpox stigma and rumours that may prevent people from seeking help and convince people to adopt healthy behaviours, such as following good hygiene practices.
According to Dr Leblanc, one particularly notable area of behaviour change observed is within the traditional healer community.
“We held advocacy sessions with traditional healers to explain the importance of notifiying health authorities of people showing signs of mpox. Previously, the traditional healers would keep the patient at home. But now they are starting to pass on information, and when they see patients who present signs of mpox, they send them directly to the nearest health centre,” he explains.
Strong partnerships lay the foundation for effective response
Before the current surge in mpox cases, the DRC Red Cross had already established strong working relationships with government authorities and various stakeholders to prepare for epidemics and pandemics.
“The Red Cross is our go-to partner during epidemics, just as we work together outside of an epidemic. We always collaborate,” says Dr Elaba Bibiche, Head Doctor in Mbandaka Health Zone.
Thanks to its prior preparation and auxiliary role to health authorities, DRC Red Cross has been able to fit seamlessly into the government’s mpox response plan and intervene in clearly defined areas.
Pre-existing relationships with various media outlets are also enabling DRC Red Cross to reach tens of thousands of people across the province with lifesaving health information.
"I've been partnering with the Red Cross for six years. We have a really good working relationship. They were the first organisation to start raising community awareness about mpox. We do programmes with their staff and volunteers, phone-in shows where people call in to ask questions about mpox and get the answers they need,” explains Trésor Ikonda, Director General at Radio Evangile Eternel in Équateur.
As the response to mpox continues, and though significant challenges remain, DRC Red Cross staff and volunteers feel positive that their preparedness efforts are paying off as they strive to reduce the impact of the epidemic on communities.
“The DRC Red Cross branch in Équateur has the capacity to manage epidemics thanks to the IFRC. Since 2018, we have faced a series of large epidemics in Équateur. It’s from the experience of managing other epidemics and from implementing the CP3 programme—which meant that we already had trained volunteers on the ground working in the different health zones—that we had the capacity to respond to mpox,” explainsColomban Mampunya, DRC Red Cross Équateur Branch President.
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The activities featured in this article are part of the Community Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Programme (CP3). Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), CP3 supports communities, National Societies and other partners to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond to disease threats.
USAID’s Bureau of Global Health has also provided additional support to IFRC and DRC Red Cross for mpox response activities.
If you enjoyed this story and would like to learn more, sign up to the IFRC’s Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Newsletter or visit the DRC Red Cross website.