PPE shortages leave nurses ‘fearful for safety’ amid Ebola outbreak, warns ICN

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has sounded the alarm over a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and screening supplies for nurses working amid the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda.

The organisation, which is in direct contact with national nursing associations in DRC, Uganda and neighbouring countries, says nurses are reporting feeling ‘scared for their safety because they do not have the equipment to protect themselves’.

Earlier this month, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak of Ebola a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

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The WHO has also confirmed that the epidemic is now ‘outpacing’ the response.

The ICN has today called for nurses and frontline health workers in DRC and Uganda to have ‘immediate access’ to the protective equipment they need.

It said it was hearing reports that nurses are ‘being put at serious risk and left fearful for their safety’ because of a shortage of PPE, screening equipment such as masks, face shields and testing kits, as well as equipment needed to safely handle highly contagious remains.

The ICN said infections and deaths had been reported among health workers, including the death of one nurse, and warned the world was ‘at risk of once again failing to protect those who protect us and repeating the deadly mistakes of the Covid-19 pandemic’.

ICN president José Luis Cobos Serrano said: ‘During the Covid-19 pandemic, at least 115,000 nurses and other health personnel lost their lives: nurses paid a devastating price because the world was not prepared and essential protective equipment was unavailable, particularly in lower-income countries. We cannot allow those lessons to be forgotten.

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‘Nurses and frontline health workers in DRC and Uganda must have immediate access to PPE, screening equipment and the resources they need to protect themselves, their patients and their communities.’

ICN chief executive Howard Catton added: ‘We are in constant contact with our national nurses’ associations on the ground.

‘Nurses are doing extraordinary, lifesaving work at personal risk and in extremely difficult conditions, but in many cases, they are reporting a lack of PPE, screening equipment and emergency training required to keep them safe and do their jobs effectively.

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‘We are hearing that nurses are fearful of becoming infected and of the consequences: many do not have adequate health coverage or insurance or risk allowances to enable them to afford health care or survive loss of income if they do contract the disease, a tragic situation we also saw during Covid-19.’

He added: ‘If we fail to protect the nurses and health workers who are risking their lives to contain this outbreak, we fail everyone. There is no response and no global health security without them.’