DR Congo: Escalation of conflict raises concerns over widespread infectious diseases, says WHO
At least 25 million people have been caught up in the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where a neglected health crisis is unfolding at alarming speed, the UN health agency, WHO, said on Friday.
For decades, conflict in the mineral-rich eastern DRC has triggered alarming levels of violence, mass displacement, widespread disease, gender-based violence and severe mental trauma said Dr Adelheid Marschang, Senior Emergency Officer at the World Health Organization (WHO).
The vast central African nation has now the “highest number of people in need of humanitarian aid in the entire world, with 25.4 million affected”, she told journalists in Geneva.
A staggering 7.4 million people have been displaced, including 2.8 million in North Kivu alone. The number of people forcibly uprooted has increased since the separatist M23 movement launched a major offensive in 2022, prompting national and regional military responses that have struggled to restrain the militia's advance. These mass displacements have overwhelmed water and sanitation systems and brought an additional burden to the population’s scarce resources, warned the WHO.
“About 40 per cent of the population, that is 40.8 million people, face serious food shortages, with 15.7 million facing severe food insecurity and as a result, a higher risk of malnutrition and infectious diseases,” said Dr Marschang. “If immediate action is not taken to address basic needs in DRC, over one million children will suffer from acute malnutrition,” she added.
Outbreaks of cholera, measles, meningitis, Mpox and plague, have all been reported, exacerbated by severe flooding and landslides.
Mpox remains a global health threat with 26 countries reporting cases to WHO this month. DRC has seen 20,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths from the virus since the start of 2023. Over 11,000 cases, including 443 deaths, have been reported so far this year, “again affecting mostly children”, Dr Marschang said.
Mpox spreads through close contact, causing flu-like symptoms and skin rash. Scientists raised the alarm last month about a dangerous new strain of Mpox in South Kivu and fear it will spread in overcrowded camps in and around Goma. Military activities around those camps make it difficult for health authorities to contain the virus if security is not granted, the UN health agency explained.
On Monday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Bintou Keita, told the UN Security Council that the DRC is facing one of the most severe and neglected humanitarian crises of our times.
Dr Marschang echoed that observation, explaining that the Humanitarian Response Plan for 2024 aims to assist 8.7 million people and requires $2.6 billion for all UN and partner agencies. “The underfunding is severe,” she stressed, as “16 per cent of the Humanitarian Response plan is currently funded. For WHO, we are looking for something like $30 million to address the situation until the end of the year.”
The deterioration of the security situation has accompanied the full withdrawal from South Kivu of the UN Stabilization Mission (MONUSCO) in DRC, ending the first phase of disengagement following a request to close the mission from the Government in Kinshasa.
MONUSCO’s operations began winding down in January after two decades of operations, but its Head, Bintou Keita, told the UN Security Council on Monday there should not be a rush to further disengagement since this process has thrown up unexpected challenges. She explained the rebel activity from the M23 carries a “very real risk of provoking a wider regional conflict”. According to a UN expert group the militia is supported by Rwanda and has been responsible for unlawful killings, rapes and other apparent war crimes in the DRC since late 2022.
ends
Story: “Health situation in DRC – WHO” – 12 July 2024
Speaker:
TRT: 02’01”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 12 July 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva Press briefing
SHOTLIST
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
A gimmer of good news emerged from Gaza on Tuesday as patients returned to at a newly reopened UN health centre in Khan Younis, six months after it was severely damaged and forced to close by heavy fighting, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN condemns attacks on Kyiv hospitals, calls for immediate action to protect civilians.
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
In Gaza, soaring temperatures, hunger and unsanitary conditions present an ever more deadly threat to a population under constant attack, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WMO , IFRC
Hurricane Beryl smashes into Caribbean, turns sights on Mexico As Hurricane Beryl’s destructive path shifted to Mexico on Friday after roiling the Caribbean, UN agencies and partners said that the emergency response was underway, before warning that a very long and damaging hurricane season looks increasingly likely.
1
1
2
Edited News | IOM , mcc , UNHCR
Refugees and migrants continue to face extreme forms of violence, exploitation and death on sea and on land across Africa as they attempt to leave the continent, UN agencies said on Friday, in an appeal to border authorities to do more to protect them.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk at the 56th Human Rigths Council, made the following update on the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
New evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army for areas in southern Gaza are expected to impact 250,000 people, including eastern Khan Younis and Rafah, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: People are desperate, they need everything, says UN aid agency Panic and desperation now grip ordinary Gazans struggling to survive, UN humanitarians said on Friday, amid fuel shortages of fuel and dwindling supplies that have prevented aid teams from doing their job.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
UN aid teams and partner organizations remain deeply committed to delivering lifesaving supplies into Gaza, despite the increasing dangers of working there, the Organization’s top aid official said on Wednesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
Every day in Gaza 10 children lose one or both legs, says top UN aid official There’s been no let-up in the terrible human cost of the war in Gaza where 10 children lose one or both legs every day, amid ongoing Israeli bombardment and renewed fears of famine, a top UN aid official said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
A UN humanitarian freshly back from Gaza described on Tuesday seeing families dig makeshift septic tanks with spoons and shell-shocked toddlers who lost limbs under Israeli bombing, amid continuing obstacles to aid delivery.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , OCHA , UN WOMEN
The Israeli military’s announcement of tactical pauses in combat in southern Gaza has not produced any significant improvement in aid deliveries to desperate Gazans, amid a breakdown in public order and the worsening health situation, UN humanitarians said on Friday.