- The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the site of “Africa’s World War.” Beginning in the mid-1990s and lasting until 2003, the consecutive civil wars experienced in the DRC claimed the lives of five million people. According to United to End Genocide
Location of the DRC and the center of the conflict.
, that makes it the deadliest conflict since World War II. It began with the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide fleeing to the DRC and bringing the violence with them. The long conflict let to a collapse of government and a rise of militias. While the civil war officially ended in 2003, the conflict left a power vacuum that was soon filled by the ruthless militias.
- The violence has not ended and the people are still in danger. In 2013, after the defeat of one of the prominent militias in the DRC, the governments’ forces began conducting offensives against the other armed militia groups. The problem is, according to The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, more than 30 armed groups currently operate in the DRC. These militias spread their brand of chaos through sporadic village burnings, abductions, and massacres in villages in provinces like North Kivu. Since October 2014, almost 500 people have been killed in villages in North Kivu alone. Despite the government and UN forces, the perpetrators of these atrocities still remain at large.
-
Militias still patrol most parts of the country, a constant threat.
About 200 children die from malaria everyday in the DRC. If the malaria itself wasn’t bad enough, according to the World Health Organization, anemia, low birth-weight, epilepsy, and neurological problems all contribute to another 200 deaths per day and all are consequence of malaria. Of the children who contract cerebral malaria, which is a different type of the disease that affects brain function, 10-20% will die and 7% will live with permanent brain damage. Children are most vulnerable to the disease and some may die within 24 hours. If they are strong enough to survive, the disease leaves them susceptible to a score of different diseases.
- There aren’t enough clinics and medical professionals in North Kivu. Dr. Brice Daverton worked with MSF (Medecins Sans Frontiers) in the North Kivu province treating the people of the villages but mostly, the children. In the two months Daverton was working, there were over 700 admissions a week and the occupancy of the clinics was almost at 300% according to Medecins Sans Frontiers. People would come from all reaches of the province hoping for aid. Some were able to be helped upon arrival but some were too ill to be helped by the time they made it to the clinic. Even worse still is that some people never made the journey, knowing that their loved ones would not make the crossing over the mountainous terrain of the province.
-
A few clinic patients waiting for treatment.
Violence prevents aid. Recently, outbreaks of fighting and insecurity in the North Kivu province has prevented the local people from obtaining healthcare. According to The Guardian, the numbers of people needing treatment for malaria has skyrocketed. Though the reason behind the increase in cases of malaria is not clear, the rise was most alarming because of the sudden massive explosion of people needing life saving malaria treatments and blood transfusions. The problem though…outside of the main cities in North Kivu, treatment for the rural villages remains weak to nonexistent due to fighting and geographically hazardous trails making mobile clinics difficult. The need for medicine in the countryside is massive, but there is no consistent way of insuring medical care.
By Becky Rosen