By Mandere Onyinkwa
Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has established an Ebola Simulation Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
This is aimed at strengthening regional emergency preparedness amid the ongoing Ebola disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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The temporary facility will serve as a specialised training hub for healthcare workers, with initial focus placed on MSF medical responders and frontline staff preparing for deployment to Ebola treatment operations in the DRC.
The training programme will later be extended to Kenya’s Ministry of Health and other partner organisations to enhance broader outbreak response capacity.
“Preparedness saves lives. Training healthcare workers before deployment to outbreak settings is essential to ensuring a safe, effective, and timely response,” said Dr Angela Thiongo, MSF Project Coordinator.
“Our goal is to strengthen our capacity to respond where needs are greatest while protecting both patients and healthcare workers.”
MSF has been responding to the current Ebola outbreak since May 2026. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain and has been described as a public health emergency of significant concern, particularly due to limited medical tools available for detection and treatment, as well as challenging operational conditions in eastern DRC.
To rapidly expand the pool of deployable medical responders, MSF is running a series of intensive two-day clinical workshops at the Nairobi simulation centre from 15 June to August 2026. These sessions are designed to prepare health workers for safe and effective operations in high-risk outbreak environments.
MSF clarified that the Nairobi facility is strictly a dry simulation and training centre. No suspected or confirmed Ebola patients will be treated, isolated, or housed at the site.
The centre is not a quarantine facility and will operate under controlled movement protocols. Importantly, participants arriving directly from Ebola-affected areas will not be received at the centre, as part of strict safety measures.
The workshops build on earlier sessions conducted in Brussels, and are focused on preparing teams for rapid deployment to active outbreak zones in both the DRC and Uganda Uganda.
Training will combine realistic simulations and hands-on exercises covering emergency preparedness and coordination, infection prevention and control, and correct use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
MSF said the approach is designed not only to build technical competence, but also to ensure knowledge transfer, enabling trained responders to mentor and support colleagues once deployed.
MSF emphasised that the initiative is part of its long-standing experience in responding to Ebola outbreaks.
The organisation has been involved in multiple responses to Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus, including outbreaks in 2007 and 2012, and has supported responses across several countries over the years.
The organisation also urged accurate reporting and public awareness, noting that while Ebola disease is severe, outbreaks can be contained through timely interventions, strong community engagement, and effective public health measures.
MSF is an independent, neutral, and impartial medical humanitarian organisation working in more than 75 countries worldwide, providing emergency medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, and exclusion from healthcare.
It has been present in Kenya for over three decades, supporting responses to multiple emergencies and public health challenges.
