[BUKAVU, SciDev.Net] The violent fighting between the Defense Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the AFC/M23 rebels in South Kivu, in the east of the DRC, is hampering the fight against the Mpox epidemic in this province.
According to local health authorities, the fighting is making the supply of medicines and vaccines impossible, causing shortages in hospitals and treatment centers.
Joseph Matundanya, head of the Expanded Immunization Program (EPI) in South Kivu, explains to SciDev.Net that vaccination began in this province with an insufficient quantity of doses compared to needs.
“The situation we find ourselves in is not easy, because insecurity disrupts everything. In the Kavumu treatment center, we had 65 patients who left without being cured because of the fighting reported in this entity”
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Ngashi Ngongo, CDC Afrique
« […] Of the 32 health zones which have already reported cases out of the 34 in our province, there are only four health zones which were targeted by vaccination, and this is already a major challenge for us in the vaccination response. We are having difficulty vaccinating all the targeted groups because of this problem of lack of vaccines,” he laments.
This observation is shared by Serge Munyahu Cikuru, chief doctor of the Miti-Murhesa health zone, one of the 34 health zones in the province of South Kivu. He regrets the impact of the war on the dynamic which was well carried out to fight against the Mpox epidemic.
According to his testimony, the stock of recently delivered vaccines is running out, health structures are not supplied and some of them have been attacked. “Regarding the supply of medicines, we have UNICEF and its partner AIDES who supplied us, but because of the war, the supply system has significantly declined,” he says.
Mpox cases continue to be reported in this health zone. “The patients continue to receive treatment, although the situation is not as desired, because there is really a shortage of medicines because of the conflict we are currently experiencing,” he adds.
600 patients fled hospitals
The intensification of fighting has also pushed several patients to desert treatment centers. Ngashi Ngongo, Mpox incident manager at CDC Africa, recently said that more than 600 patients with the disease, in panic, fled different health facilities in eastern DRC.
“The situation we find ourselves in is not easy, because insecurity disrupts everything. In the Kavumu treatment center, we had 65 patients who left without being cured because of the fighting reported in this entity,” he confides.
“These cases are scattered throughout the community. There are other cases who were under treatment who left the Miti-Murhesa health zone to head to other health zones in neighboring towns,” adds Serge Munyahu Cikuru.
He also said that more than 25 soldiers who were receiving treatment in the Nyamukubi center also fled. “Until today, we don’t know how to locate them. Other patients who were followed at the Lwiro treatment center and at the Miti-Murhesa general referral hospital have left,” he laments.
This situation raises fears of a worsening of the epidemic in South Kivu. “Before the war, the trend was already good because the curve was downward… But now, with the sick who have left in the community, we are still starting to notify cases. The fear we have is that we could see an increase in cases…” laments the head doctor of the Miti-Murhesa health zone.
In such a context, he continued, it is difficult to trace patients to break the chain of Mpox contamination, and health workers are running out of options regarding the use of remaining medical stocks, while this health zone continues to record confirmed cases of the disease.
The fighting also arouses fear among health workers. “There is also the problem of nurses and doctors who are in psychosis because of this war situation, but we are continuing awareness raising and all the approaches that were already deployed in the Miti-Murhesa health zone, but the problem is not resolved,” declares Serge Munyahu Cikuru to SciDev.Net.
Expansion of the epidemic
Pour Marie Migani Muganza, team leader of the health theme within the South Kivu Civil Society Coordination Office, this climate of insecurity could favor the expansion of the epidemic in South Kivu. She denounces the abrupt cessation of various treatments for patients suffering from Mpox in areas under occupation of M23.
“This situation has blocked several initiatives aimed at combating this Mpox epidemic which has already taken the lives of several members of our families. Added to this security problem are the difficulties linked to logistics,” she explains.
She adds that medical professionals strive to do their best. “But we believe that if national authorities, together with their partners, do not actively get involved in solving this problem, health professionals will still struggle to do their job properly and the epidemic will continue to claim lives,” she said.
Despite the security challenges, the DRC’s EPI remains mobilized against the spread of this epidemic in South Kivu, through the implementation of vaccination strategies and raising awareness of the population on the importance of vaccination.
To achieve this objective, Nanou Yanga, head of Mpox vaccination at the EPI, invites populations affected by the socio-security situation to calm down and to trust the public health services and their partners.
