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DR Congo: Ex-health minister arrested over Ebola funds

Former health minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been arrested by the Police for allegedly mismanaging funds allocated for the Ebola epidemic.

Oly Ilunga has however denied any wrongdoing following his arrest.

He resigned as health minister in July and criticized the World Health Organisation in his resignation letter.

Dr Ilunga said the global health body’s plan to use an unlicensed vaccine against Ebola was inappropriate.

Police have detained him based on information that he intended to evade legal proceedings and leave the country.

Officials in DR Congo say the country’s year-long Ebola outbreak has led to the death of at least 2,000.

According to government data the number of confirmed and probable cases has also hit a milestone of more than 3,000.

The worst epidemic was recorded between 2013-2016 in West Africa. More than 11,300 people died then out of 28,000 who were infected.

An effective vaccine and treatment process has been ongoing but health workers have struggled to control the spread of the disease.

There are challenges especially in remote and conflict-hit areas of eastern Congo, where many locals are wary of the response effort.

In July the World Health Organization (W.H.O) declared the current Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

Source: Africafeeds.com

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