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 , B-roll | OCHA
Gaza: ‘Worst-case scenario’ unfolds as two-month aid blockade deepens suffering - OCHA
Two months into a devastating aid blockade of Gaza food has run out and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombing, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.
/Includes OCHA footage from Gaza City/
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Children in Gaza are going to bed starving, says aid agency
The biggest UN aid agency in Gaza on Tuesday condemned the two-month Israeli blockade on Gaza that has left families sharing a single tin of food at mealtime and the sick and injured without lifesaving medical help, amid daily bombardment.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine force frontline areas to empty: UNHCR
With Ukrainian cities still reeling from this week’s deadly Russian missile and drone attacks, communities on the front line continue to be targeted too, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday. “We also see attacks on frontline regions increasing and it's, as always, civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Funding and supply shortfalls for the UN World Food Programme (WFP)'s work in Ethiopia will halt lifesaving treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children at the end of the month. “We are at the breaking point,” it said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of civilians, the UN Human Rights Office warned today.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNWOMEN , UNDP
Sudan: Aid teams report massive displacement after latest Darfur atrocity; women’s bodies ‘turned into battlegrounds’
In Sudan’s North Darfur, tens of thousands of people have fled a displacement camp following the massacre of civilians and aid workers as the country enters the third year of a conflict marked by horrific levels of sexual violence, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | ITC
Global trade could shrink by three per cent as a result of the United States’ new tariff measures which in the longer term could reshape and boost as-yet untapped regional commercial links, a top UN economist confirmed on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Warring parties in Sudan are overseeing a wholesale assault on human rights amid global inaction, the UN Human Rights Office said on Friday, as the conflict is about to enter its third year.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said Israel’s increasing issuance of so-called “evacuation orders” for Palestinians in Gaza have resulted in their forcible transfer.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNHCR , UNWOMEN , WFP , WHO
Two years of war in Sudan have created epic suffering, aid agencies say
Two years since Sudan’s brutal conflict began, UN agencies warned that famine is spreading and civilians of all ages continue to suffer shocking abuse, including rape and gang rape.
1
1
Edited News | UNMAS
In Gaza, ongoing Israeli military operations and the aid blockade have continued to add to daily fears and hardships confronting those in the devastated enclave, the UN Mine Action Service, UNMAS, said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP
Dangers grow for Myanmar earthquake survivors, health system 'overwhelmed' - UNDP
In earthquake-shattered central Myanmar people are sleeping in the streets in fear of buildings collapsing, facing early monsoon rains and the risk of waterborne diseases, the UN Development Programme warned on Tuesday.