Armed conflict and floods push DRC into ‘health disaster’

The World Health Organization warns that tens of thousands of people could be infected with cholera, measles or meningitis, especially in North Kivu, the epicenter of fighting between the army and militias.

Madrid, July 13 (European Press) –

Armed conflict and heavy rains are pushing the Democratic Republic of the Congo into a “health catastrophe,” the World Health Organization warned last Friday in its latest assessment, which warned of multiple epidemics, from cholera to meningitis, concentrated in particular in North Kivu province, in the country’s northeast, which for years has witnessed an extremely violent armed conflict between the army and the M23 militia.

This conflict has led to the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Congolese to the provincial capital, Goma, where they live in inhumane conditions and are plagued by disease.

“The population is facing epidemics of cholera, measles, meningitis, smallpox and plague, all exacerbated by severe flooding and landslides affecting some parts of the country,” WHO emergencies chief Dr. Adelheid Marchang warned at a news conference on Friday, according to the country’s UN station, Radio Okapi.

The World Health Organization says that since the beginning of the year, more than 20,000 cases of cholera have been recorded, most of them in North Kivu. More than 65,000 cases of measles have been reported, including 1,523 deaths, but the actual numbers are likely to be higher due to inadequate disease surveillance and data reporting.

There are also 3,073 cases of meningitis (including 251 deaths) in the country and a variant of monkeypox that has left more than 11,000 cases, including 445 deaths, with a case fatality rate of more than 4%, especially among children.

Armed conflict and population displacement are also major drivers of food insecurity. According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, around 40% of the population, or about 40 million people, face severe food shortages, including nearly 16 million people who are at risk of food insecurity.