Extracts below from a new article. Full text here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/politician-ebola-drc-dea...
'Marie-Celestin Karondwa, the acting president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, was attacked in Butembo in the North Kivu province, after a radio interview.
A representative said that Karondwa was “an innocent victim for having defended the party’s position on the existence of the Ebola virus disease...
In a statement the party said that attackers beat the politician, stole his belongings and set his house on fire. He later died of his injuries in hospital...
The motive behind the attack is also unclear.
Butembo has become a hotspot in the ongoing deadly Ebola outbreak in the DRC.
Karondwa’s death is the latest in a spate of attacks against healthcare workers amid suspicion around the disease and what experts have dubbed misinformation.
On Saturday, a hand-washing checkpoint was stormed by armed men killing at least one person and wounding several others, according to local groups.'
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org