The Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is robbing children of their loved ones – with some succumbing to the deadly disease themselves, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on Tuesday.
The update comes as regional neighbour Kenya confirmed its first case and death from the disease, believed to have come from DRC.
“Ebola takes the people children depend on and unravels their lives,” said Halimatou Amadou, UNICEF Chief of Communication in the DRC, speaking to journalists in Geneva.
“The parents fall ill, a child may be exposed, the parent is taken for treatment or dies. At the very moment a child most needs someone, fear and stigma can keep relatives and neighbours away.”
by UN News – ‘Ebola takes the people children depend on’: UNICEF
