Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
More than 200 health facilities in eastern Congo are facing shortages of medicines as a result of fighting in the region and a lack of humanitarian funding, international committee says red cross Said on Wednesday.
The Red Cross said it assessed 240 health centers and clinics in North and South Kivu, two provinces where Rwandan-backed M23 rebels made unprecedented advances earlier this year, deepening one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
The ICRC said that difficulties in crossing front lines in war-affected areas are preventing health facilities from accessing medicine, even when it is available.
“Thousands of lives are at risk” due to lack of essential medicine against malaria hivTuberculosis and other diseases, François Morillon, head of the ICRC’s delegation in Congo, said during a press conference on Wednesday.
He said many humanitarian organizations supporting health facilities in the area have been forced to scale back or close their work due to lack of funding.
“Currently, more than 80 percent of health facilities in the Kivu provinces receive no support from humanitarian partners and are only operational because of the remarkable commitment of their staff on both sides of the front line,” Moreillon said.
According to the organization, many health workers have also fled war-torn areas, leading to understaffing in nearly half of the facilities assessed by the ICRC.
Congo’s mineral-rich eastern region has long been torn by fighting between more than 100 armed groups, including Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. Rebels captured the provincial capitals Goma and Bukavu earlier this year, escalating the decades-long conflict.
The rebel advance has killed nearly 3,000 people this year and worsened already one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises, displacing nearly 7 million people. Although fighting has largely subsided as a result of peace efforts, clashes are still occurring and civilians are still being killed.