This archive report was first published on 6 August 2019.
On Tuesday, August 6, 2019, Congolese interim health minister Pierre Kangudia arrived in Rwanda for crucial discussions on strategies to prevent the spread of Ebola.
Mr. Kangudia was expected to hold private talks with Rwanda's minister of health, Diane Gashumba, at the Serena Hotel in Gisenyi, a border town in Rwanda.
The ministers were set to discuss ways to improve screening at the border, preparedness, and how to strengthen health services in the region.
According to Zacharie Gahungu, an adviser to Ms. Gashumba, the ministers would discuss methods on how to cooperate better in managing the Ebola epidemic in Goma and assess mechanisms to prevent it from spreading into Rwanda.
This meeting marked the first time both ministers had met since the outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever in the eastern Congolese city of Goma in late July.
The duo was also expected to discuss the challenge posed by smugglers who use porous border routes between the two countries.
Ms. Gashumba stated that the passage of smugglers would be treated as a 'national security concern' and the perpetrators would face charges including 'destabilising state security.'
Mr. Kangudia was appointed interim health minister following the sudden resignation of long-term minister Ilunga Kalenga, who had been stripped of responsibility by President Felix Tshisekedi to manage the epidemic outbreak.
Mr. Kalenga had resigned in protest, citing President Tshisekedi's decision to place the response to the Ebola outbreak under his direct supervision.
Mr. Kalenga had written to President Tshisekedi, stating, 'As a result of your decision to place the response to the Ebola outbreak under your direct supervision and because I anticipate that this decision will inevitably lead to a predictable outcry, I submit to you my resignation as Health Minister.'
He added, 'Like it is in any war; because that is what this is, there cannot be several centres of decision-making for risk of creating confusion.'
Rwanda had briefly closed its borders to the DRC for a few hours after a third case of Ebola was confirmed in Goma.
The country had also cautioned against unnecessary border crossings to the regions in Goma where the haemorrhagic fever had been reported.
No Ebola case had been reported in Rwanda, but the country had conducted several drills to equip health workers, emergency responders, and hospitals in case of an outbreak.
On top of daily border surveillance, the ministry had trained over 23,600 medical personnel, police officers, and volunteers, as well as conducted countywide sensitisation campaigns about the virus.
According to World Health Organization statistics, at least 1,803 people had died from the virus in the second-worst outbreak of Ebola on record.
