More than 80% of health facilities in eastern Congo are out of medicine, Red Cross says
Kinshasa, Congo– Kinshasa, Congo (AP)-More than 200 health establishments in eastern Congo experience drug shortages due to fighting in the region and lack of humanitarian funding, the International Cross-Red Cross Committee said on Wednesday.
The Red Cross said that it has evaluated 240 health and clinical centers in the North and South Kivu, two provinces where the M23 rebels supported by Rwanda carried out an unprecedented advance at the start of this year, further aggravating one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world.
The difficulties encountered to cross the front lines in the regions affected by the war prevented health establishments from having access to medicines, even when available, the ICRC said.
“The life of thousands of people is at stake,” due to the shortage of essential drugs against malaria, HIV, tuberculosis and other diseases, said François Moreillon, head of the CICR delegation in Congo on Wednesday during a press conference.
Many humanitarian organizations supporting the region’s health establishments have been forced to reduce their work or close their doors due to a lack of funding, he added.
“Currently, more than 80 percent of the health structures of the KIVU provinces only receive any support from humanitarian partners and are only operational thanks to the remarkable commitment of their staff on both sides of the front line,” said Moreillon.
Many health workers have also fled the regions torn by the war, causing a shortage of staff in almost half of the establishments evaluated by the ICRC, according to the organization.
East of the Congo, rich in minerals, has long been struck by fights involving more than 100 armed groups, including the rebels of the M23 supported by Rwanda. The rebels have seized the provincial capitals Goma and Bukavu earlier this year, thus intensifying a conflict of several decades.
The advance of the rebels killed some 3,000 people this year and has worsened what was already one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, with around 7 million displaced people. Even if the fighting has largely decreased thanks to peace efforts, clashes remain and civilians continue to be killed.
