Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemics have been extensively documented and have received large scientific and public attention since 1976. Until July 2022, 16 countries worldwide had reported at least one case of EVD, resulting in 43 epidemics. Most of the epidemics occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) but the largest epidemic occurred from 2014–2016 in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa. The indirect effects of EVD epidemics on these countries’ health systems, i.e., the consequences beyond infected patients and deaths immediately related to EVD, can be significant. The objective of this review was to map and measure the indirect effects of the EVD epidemics on the health systems of DRC, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and, from thereon, draw lessons for strengthening their resilience vis-à-vis future EVD outbreaks and other similar health emergencies. A scoping review of published articles from the PubMed database and gray literature was conducted. It was supplemented by interviews with experts. Eighty-six articles were included in this review. The results were structured based on WHO’s six building blocks of a health system. During the EVD outbreaks, several healthcare services and activities were disrupted. A significant decline in indicators of curative care utilization, immunization levels and disease control activities was noticeable. Shortages of health personnel, poor health data management, insufficient funding and shortages of essential drugs characterized the epidemics that occurred in the above-mentioned countries. The public health authorities had virtually lost their leadership in the management of an EVD response. Governance was characterized by the development of a range of new initiatives to ensure adequate response. The results of this review highlight the need for countries to invest in and strengthen their health systems, through the continuous reinforcement of the building blocks, even if there is no imminent risk of an epidemic.

Introduction: Geohelminths are infections due to various species of parasitic worms transmitted by eggs present in human excreta which contaminate the soil where sanitation is poor. The objective of this study was to analyse the determinants and knowledge on geo-helminthiasis among inmates and care providers in the Kassapa prison environment in Lubumbashi in the Demographic Republic of Congo. Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study which was conducted from September 21 to October 15, 2020 in Kassapa prison in Demographic Republic of Congo. Estimates of the prevalence and general characteristics of geo-helminthiasis in prisoners were calculated by descriptive analyses. The analysis of determinants was performed based on a binary logistic regression. Results: With regard to the quantitative section, the study used a sample size of 1083 while a sample size of six was considered for the qualitative section. The annual prevalence of geo-helminthiasis was 10.2%, 4.8% and 2.9% respectively for 2017, 2018 and 2019. It was found that the general prevalence of geo-helminthiases was 17.9%. The age group above 39 years constitutes the modal class with 29.4%, the least affected age group being that of minors with 6.3%. The association is statistically significant between sex, treatment, prison residence and year. Thus, taking gender into account, women are by 2.3 (OR = 2.3, 95% CI [1.3%; 4.8%], p value < 0.05) more likely to be at risk of suffering from geo-helminthiasis than men, and mebendazole is by 2.1 a better treatment of geo-helminthiasis than albenda-How to cite this paper: Kaseba, A