Congo’s Ebola Fighters Walk Off the Job as Unpaid Strike Halts a Deadly Outbreak Response

Doctors, nurses and community health workers responding to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak went on strike this week in the northeastern towns of Bunia and Rwampara, citing months of unpaid wages and inadequate protective equipment. In a letter dated July 5 and addressed to Ituri province’s governor and health officials, the workers said they had not been paid for services rendered since the outbreak was declared on May 15, and demanded higher daily allowances along with the removal of income tax deductions on those payments. Congo’s National Institute of Public Health confirmed Thursday that the walkouts have compromised the continuity of essential health services in the affected towns [1]. The outbreak has infected 1,759 people and killed roughly 600, according to government data released Wednesday — one of the worst starts to any Ebola outbreak on record for a virus that has no approved vaccine or cure and kills 30% to 50% of those infected [1, 2]. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention this week publicly urged Congolese authorities to settle the payments owed to striking responders [3].

Why It Sucks:

Striking Health Workers

• Risking death for wages that never arrive. Workers say they haven’t been paid since the outbreak was declared on May 15, despite daily exposure to a virus that kills up to half of those it infects [1].
• Hazard pay taxed like an ordinary paycheck. Workers argue their allowances are risk-based bonuses, not salary, and object to having income tax deducted from money meant to compensate them for mortal danger [1].
• Sent into the field without proper gear. Reports of insufficient protective supplies mean responders are being asked to choose between their own safety and showing up for a fatal outbreak [1].

Affected Communities & Patients in Ituri Province

• Outbreak response grinds to a halt mid-crisis. Continuity of essential health services has been “compromised” in Bunia and Rwampara at the exact moment the death toll is nearing 600 [1].
• A disease with no cure keeps spreading unchecked. With no approved vaccine and a fatality rate as high as 50%, any gap in contact tracing or treatment gives the virus more room to move through new communities [2].
• Ordinary families pay for a dispute they didn’t cause. Residents of the outbreak zone bear the health consequences of a pay standoff between workers and the government, through no fault of their own [1].

Congolese Health Authorities & International Health Agencies

• Africa CDC forced to publicly shame Kinshasa. The regional health body had to call on Congo’s government to settle payments, a sign the national response system was already failing to manage its own workforce [3].
• A strained health system stretched past its limits. The government must fund an intensifying outbreak response while managing broader public finances, and the unpaid wages suggest that balancing act is failing [1].
• A local labor dispute threatens regional containment. Any breakdown in Congo’s outbreak response raises the risk of Ebola spreading beyond Ituri into new provinces or across borders, a global health concern beyond Congo’s own workforce dispute [2, 3].

Sources & Citations:

[1] Washington Post: Some health workers in Congo’s Ebola outbreak go on strike over pay issues as deaths near 600
[2] Al Jazeera: Ebola death toll in DR Congo surpasses 500
[3] Bloomberg: Africa CDC Calls on Congo to Settle Payments for Striking Ebola Workers