DRC: Urgent needs continue

11 November 2008

© Dominic Nahr / L'Oeil Public

MSF teams are continuing their work in Goma and in other towns and villages in North Kivu. The organisation remains very concerned about the many people still on the move after fleeing recent fighting.

Some displaced people are returning to their places of origin around North Kivu. Yet many of the displaced and local residents continue to be in urgent need of food, clean water, healthcare and basic items like blankets and shelter materials.

Teams are working at health centres in Kiwanja, in Rutshuru town, and at Rutshuru hospital. Some 50 cholera patients were treated at the Rutshuru cholera treatment center last week, and MSF donated cholera treatment kits to local health centres. MSF is the only organisation currently working in Rutshuru, with seven international and 210 Congolese staff.

In Kibati, just north of Goma, only eight new cholera cases were reported today, compared to the 48 cases treated from Friday to Sunday. Another 11 cases were reported at a cholera treatment unit in Goma, and one new case at Goma general hospital.

Cholera consistently recurs in parts of North Kivu. As usual, MSF is treating cholera throughout the province. Between January and September of this year, MSF treated 1480 cases of cholera in the area between Goma and Saké, southwest of Kibati. In the same period, 1469 cases were treated in Rutshuru, and 851 in Mweso and Kitchanga.

Recent fighting has contributed to a heightened risk of cholera. Risk factors include poor sanitation, lack of clean water, the constant movement of the population, and crowded conditions in displaced camps.

There have been large movements of displaced people from Kibirizi and Nyanzale to Kanyabayonga and on to Kirumba. Yesterday mobile teams performed consultations in Kirumba and Kanyabayonga.

Northwest of Goma, in Kalembe, MSF has found that most of the population has left the town. Mobile clinic teams will visit today to look for people in need of healthcare.

West of Goma, MSF teams started mobile clinics in Karuba village – there were 41 consultations, with sexually transmitted infections the major complaint. MSF is also providing mental healthcare and basic items to displaced people in Shasha camp. North of Shasha, in Kirotshe, MSF is working to get the local hospital operational.

In Kitchanga and Mweso, MSF is continuing to provide primary and secondary healthcare and running mobile clinics. In Masisi, 80 km northwest of Goma, a six-person MSF international team and 80 Congolese colleagues are providing healthcare at a hospital and health centre.

Further east, on the Ugandan borders, MSF teams are assessing the condition of thousands of Congolese refugees and displaced people.

MSF is continuing to explore the area, as security conditions permit, identifying people with unmet health needs following recent fighting and displacement. Some 52 international staff are working with MSF in North Kivu now, including doctors, nurses, logisticians, and administrators, among others.