DRC health disaster warning

NAIROBI – Medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) yesterday warned of a “catastrophic” health situation in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), despite a respite in violence in many parts of the vast African nation.

MSF said in a new report entitled “Access to Healthcare, Mortality and violence in DRC,” that the current situation was “even darker than what was observed four years ago”. The report said that the country’s health system had been neglected at the expense of the ongoing political transition which is expected to culminate in general elections by June 2006.”Although peace has returned to much of the DRC, the health situation remains alarming.Far from improving, it has worsened in certain regions of the country,” said the MSF’s report, describing the situation as “catastrophic”.It cited, “Excess mortality, absence of medical care and exclusion from care for a majority of patients where it does exist.”The healthcare situation was no better in areas that had previously been unaffected the Congolese war.The report said that many people were dying from avoidable diseases such as malaria, respiratory and diarrhoeal infections and fewer than one in two patients had access to the most basic healthcare.It added that a broad percentage of the country’s impoverished 50 million Congolese cannot afford medical care and that extreme poverty was contributing to the situation.”Even a very low flat fee contribution remains an unsurmountable barrier for many people,” said Meinie Nicolai, MSF’s director of operations in the DRC.”Excess mortality in the DRC is not confined to ongoing conflicts…abject poverty and hardship are claiming just as many lives,” Nicolai added.Lack of infrastructure in the resource-rich nation, poorly equipped hospitals add to the list of contributing factors to DRC’s dilapidated health system.Most Congolese live on less than US$0,30 a day, too little to cater for healthcare in addition to other needs.- Nampa-AFPThe report said that the country’s health system had been neglected at the expense of the ongoing political transition which is expected to culminate in general elections by June 2006.”Although peace has returned to much of the DRC, the health situation remains alarming.Far from improving, it has worsened in certain regions of the country,” said the MSF’s report, describing the situation as “catastrophic”.It cited, “Excess mortality, absence of medical care and exclusion from care for a majority of patients where it does exist.”The healthcare situation was no better in areas that had previously been unaffected the Congolese war.The report said that many people were dying from avoidable diseases such as malaria, respiratory and diarrhoeal infections and fewer than one in two patients had access to the most basic healthcare.It added that a broad percentage of the country’s impoverished 50 million Congolese cannot afford medical care and that extreme poverty was contributing to the situation.”Even a very low flat fee contribution remains an unsurmountable barrier for many people,” said Meinie Nicolai, MSF’s director of operations in the DRC.”Excess mortality in the DRC is not confined to ongoing conflicts…abject poverty and hardship are claiming just as many lives,” Nicolai added.Lack of infrastructure in the resource-rich nation, poorly equipped hospitals add to the list of contributing factors to DRC’s dilapidated health system.Most Congolese live on less than US$0,30 a day, too little to cater for healthcare in addition to other needs.- Nampa-AFP