Pregnant women in Congo's Ituri province are avoiding hospitals as Ebola fears spread.
Why it matters: The outbreak is disrupting routine maternal care, not just infectious-disease response. For health systems, aid groups and policymakers, it shows how epidemics can worsen access to basic services in already fragile settings.
- AP says pregnant women in Ituri province are skipping prenatal and maternity visits because they fear Ebola exposure.
- UNFPA says fear and misinformation are contributing to preventable maternal deaths and limiting access to care.
- AP cites UN data showing 19,000 women died from pregnancy complications in Congo in 2023.
- UNFPA quotes regional director Lydia Zigomo warning against 'an epidemic of Ebola' triggering 'a silent epidemic of preventable maternal deaths.'
Pregnant women in eastern Congo are avoiding hospitals as Ebola anxiety spreads, according to AP. In Ituri province, health workers are seeing fewer prenatal and maternity visits as women try to avoid possible exposure at health facilities.
UNFPA says the outbreak is feeding a maternal-health crisis by keeping women away from care. In its report, the agency says fear and misinformation are contributing to preventable maternal deaths. The report also quotes Lydia Zigomo, UNFPA's regional director for East and Southern Africa, saying: "We cannot allow an epidemic of Ebola to trigger a silent epidemic of preventable maternal deaths." Read the UNFPA report.
AP says the health fears are unfolding in Ituri, while its reporting on the outbreak points to the wider strain on health facilities and population movement in the region. WHO has separate outbreak updates on the Democratic Republic of the Congo at this update and this notice.
AP also reports, citing UN data, that 19,000 women died from pregnancy complications in Congo in 2023. The story says maternal deaths in Ituri have increased as outbreak fears spread, underscoring how Ebola can ripple beyond direct infections and strain already fragile maternal care.
By the numbers
- 19,000 - women in Congo who died from pregnancy complications in 2023, according to UN data cited by AP
Yes, but: The reporting ties the rise in missed care and maternal deaths to outbreak fears, but it does not quantify how much of the increase in Ituri is directly attributable to Ebola anxiety versus other local health-system pressures.