Health services are at breaking point in rebel-controlled eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as fighting continues and the situation is exacerbated by the US government’s decision to cut funding.
Care givers are struggling to treat thousands of war-wounded and to stay on top of several deadly diseases amid intimidation, looting and dwindling supplies, Health Minister Roger Kamba said by phone Thursday. Congo’s health system that’s largely supported by external aid is in “true chaos,” he said.
Rebels backed by neighbouring Rwanda took over the eastern city of Goma last month and sacked a second city, Bukavu, a few weeks later, forcing almost a million people to flee their homes. The battle for Goma was particularly violent, causing widespread destruction and casualties, Kamba said. They stole the ministry’s cars, ransacked warehouses full of humanitarian supplies and upended vaccination campaigns.
About 15 people arrive at the remaining health centers daily with war wounds, adding to the almost 5 500 people already injured in the fighting around the city, Kamba said. Goma is down to 19 surgeons for a population of about 2 million, he said.
Bukavu is in a better situation, in part because there was less fighting and humanitarian groups including the World Heath Organization were able to prearrange supplies and protect warehouses before the rebels arrived.
Congo is assessing the gaps left by the pullout of the US Agency for International Development, which provided medicine, supplies and training, as well as substantial funds for humanitarian groups, Kamba said. USAID also helped fund vaccinations and treatment for malaria, HIV and mpox.
Mpox cases are rising and the conflict has heightened infection risk as monitoring its spread in the east is particularly difficult. Most of the 140 people in isolation centers with serious cases fled during the rebel advance and are still missing, Kamba said.
“Are they dead? Have they contaminated other people? We don’t know,” he said.
A mutated strain of the mpox-causing virus identified in Congo last year has spread in several African nations and other countries including the US, UK, Thailand and India. Most of the 1 300 mpox deaths in 2024 were in Congo.
The WHO is plugging part of the hole created after the withdrawal of USAID. Still, Kamba questions the sustainability of the new funding. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and WHO are keeping their mpox alert at the highest level.
While Congo has dozens of doctors and epidemiologists with world-class experience handling deadly diseases like mpox and Ebola, the country has only two labs that can safely test for such diseases. One of them is in Goma and is no longer operational.
The United Nations’ humanitarian agency said this week the country needs $2.5 billion in emergency assistance.
“All the warning signals are red,” said Bruno Lemarquis, a humanitarian coordinator in Congo.
Follow Moneyweb’s in-depth finance and business news on WhatsApp here.
