WHO: DR Congo’s Health System Is Breaking
The World Health Organization issued a warning on Friday that the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s health system is currently on the verge of collapse.
The WHO noted that rising violence and insecurity, particularly in the eastern DR Congo, are having a significant negative impact on public health.
Concurrent illness outbreaks, including those such as yellow fever, cholera, and malaria which are expanding due to recent natural catastrophes, are putting stress on the vast central African nation’s health system and resources, according to the UN health agency.
According to the WHO, 7.4 million people in the DRC require medical help.
“The entire healthcare system is currently at a breaking point,” it declared.
A large portion of the eastern DRC has been plagued by armed groups for three decades as a result of local conflicts that erupted in the 1990s and 2000s.
According to the UN, nearly a million people have left their homes in the eastern DRC so far this year due to armed attacks against civilians and escalating unrest.
Since December, the eastern DRC has seen more than 136,000 cases of measles and almost 25,000 cases of cholera, with 2,000 measles deaths so far this year.
Due to the violence and subsequent displacement, the eastern province of North Kivu is responsible for half of the cholera cases that have occurred since June of last year.
The organization said that it has increased emergency health support, including illness early warning and surveillance, in the eastern provinces.
