Teams are working at health centers in Kiwanja, in Rutshuru town, and at Rutshuru hospital. In the last two days, the surgical team has treated two wounded people at the hospital. Over the last three days, about 31 cholera patients have been treated at the cholera treatment center.

A mobile team planned to attempt to go to Nyanzale today, and a team intends to return to Kayna on Saturday. Both trips will depend on the security situation.

In Kibati, just north of Goma, 16 new cholera cases were reported over the last two days, in addition to the 48 cases treated between November 7 and 9. MSF is still trucking clean water to Kibati. Another six cholera cases were reported in the Buhimba cholera treatment center, just west of Goma, and a cholera treatment unit in Goma itself is reporting about 8 to 10 new cases a day.

Cholera consistently recurs in parts of North Kivu, and, as usual, MSF is treating cholera throughout the province. Recent fighting has contributed to a heightened risk of cholera. Risk factors include poor sanitation, lack of clean water, the constant movement of the population, and crowded conditions in displaced persons camps.

MSF has cleaned and stocked two operating theatres at Goma general hospital, and has begun performing surgery in one of them. MSF has stopped running mobile clinics into a displaced persons camp in Kibati, just outside Goma, because an assessment confirmed that other aid groups are successfully managing the needs there.

An MSF team also planned to evaluate the situation in Kibumba, north of Goma, today.

West of Goma, MSF has started working at the hospital in Kirotshe. And, in nearby Shasha camp, MSF has begun training its local staff to provide mental healthcare to people suffering psychological problems as a result of the conflict.

Northwest of Goma, in Kitchanga and Mweso, MSF is continuing to provide primary and secondary healthcare. A mobile clinic team is visiting Pinga today, west of Mweso.

In Masisi, about 50 miles northwest of Goma, an MSF team of six international staff and 80 Congolese colleagues are providing healthcare at a hospital and a health center. In Minova, west of Goma, an MSF team continues to support the local hospital and health centers, treating an average of 60 cholera patients each week.

MSF is continuing to explore the area as security conditions permit, identifying people with unmet health needs, following recent fighting and displacement. Some 52 international staff are working with MSF in North Kivu now, including doctors, nurses, logisticians, and administrators, among others.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are continuing to work in Goma and in other towns and villages in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The organization remains very concerned about the many people still on the move after fleeing recent fighting.

While some displaced people are returning to their places of origin around North Kivu, many of the displaced and local residents continue to be in urgent need of food, clean water, healthcare and basic items like blankets and shelter materials.

The town of Rutshuru was calmer over the weekend. Some 13 people were treated for war wounds at the Rutshuru hospital, and another 50 patients were treated following a truck crash. To assist people displaced by recent fighting in nearby Kiwanja, MSF teams are working at three health centers – in Kiwanja, in Rutshuru town, and at Rutshuru hospital. MSF is the only organization currently working in Rutshuru, with six international and 210 Congolese staff.

At MSF’s cholera treatment center in Kibati, just north of Goma, 48 new patients were treated from Friday to Sunday. Some 22 people were transferred to a treatment center in Goma as a precautionary measure. No deaths were reported. Also in Kibati, MSF mobile clinic teams performed around 50 consultations over the weekend and continued providing clean water to displaced people.

Cholera is always a concern in North Kivu; the disease is endemic in parts of the province. Between January and September of this year, MSF treated 1,480 cases of cholera in the area between Goma and Saké, southwest of Kibati. In the Rutshuru area, the site of recent heavy fighting, there were 1,469 cases in the same period, and 851 cases in Mweso and Kitchanga.

November 10th

People collect water at a displaced persons camp in Kibati, North Kivu, DRC.

Recent fighting and displacement have increased the risk of cholera. Poor sanitation, lack of clean water, the constant movement of populations, and crowded conditions in displaced camps are all risk factors for the disease.

As usual, MSF is continuing to treat cholera throughout North Kivu, about 60-70 patients per week in Minova, 70 per week in Rutshsuru. Thirteen new patients were treated in Kayna last week. MSF has treated 63 patients at a cholera treatment unit in Goma since November 5, with no deaths reported.

MSF transferred patients from its cholera treatment center in Kiwanja to a treatment unit at Rutshuru hospital, following fighting in the area. A treatment unit in nearby Rubare has treated four to ten new patients per day since the beginning of November.

There have been large movements of displaced people from Kibirizi and Nyanzale to Kanyabayonga and on to Kirumba. MSF estimates that the population of Kirumba has tripled in the past week. In Kanyabayonga, MSF mobile teams performed 1,351 consultations at three health centers over the past week. Today, mobile teams have been dispatched to Kirumba and Kanyabayonga. At the hospital in Kayna, MSF has treated 125 war-wounded patients since October 27.

West of Goma, MSF teams are starting mobile clinics in the Mushake area, and in Karuba village. MSF is providing mental healthcare, basic items, and clean water to displaced people in Shasha camp. Just north of Shasha, in Kirotshe, the organization will provide surgical and emergency support at the local hospital.

The situation was relatively calm in the villages of Kitchanga and Mweso, located north of Goma, where MSF is providing primary and secondary healthcare and running mobile clinics. In Masisi, 80 km northwest of Goma, a six-person MSF international team and 80 Congolese colleagues are providing healthcare at a hospital and health center.

Further east, along the Ugandan border, MSF teams are assessing the condition of thousands of Congolese refugees and displaced people.

MSF is continuing to explore the area, as security conditions permit, identifying people with unmet health needs following recent fighting and displacement. Some 52 international staff are working with MSF in North Kivu now, including doctors, nurses, logisticians, and administrators, among others.

November 07th

Since fighting broke out in and around the town of Kiwanja in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo on November 5th and 6th, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) surgical teams have treated dozens of wounded people in the MSF-supported hospital in the neighboring town of Rutshuru. Half of the wounded are children. Thousands of people who have fled the fighting in Kiwanja have sought shelter on the road between the two towns, in churches, and even inside Rutshuru hospital.

MSF teams are continuing their work in the regional capital, Goma, and in other towns and villages in North Kivu. The organization remains very concerned about the many people still on the move after fleeing recent fighting.

Heavy fighting continued today in Rutshuru and in Kiwanja, and the situation remains tense. Thousands of people have been displaced yet again by the fighting. An MSF mobile clinic team that attempted to go to Kiwanja today was turned back by fighting.

Rutshuru hospital is full of displaced people, and MSF has set up tents to shelter them. Over the last two days, medical teams have treated 43 war-wounded patients at the hospital, and more are arriving. Since yesterday, MSF has also treated more than 50 patients at two health centers in Rutshuru, half of them children. MSF is the only organization currently working in the town.

There was fighting in Kibati today as well, sending displaced people fleeing to nearby Goma. MSF teams were there running mobile clinics, providing clean water, and installing a new cholera treatment center in Kibati.

Ten cholera patients fled a treatment facility in Kibati when the fighting broke out, and MSF was able to transfer another 10 patients back to the cholera treatment center at the Goma General Hospital. Tomorrow, MSF teams will set up an ambulance service to transport cholera patients to Goma while the situation in and around Kibati remains unstable.

West of Goma, MSF teams are starting mobile clinics in the Mushake area, and in Karuba village. MSF is providing mental healthcare to displaced people in Shasha camp, near Saké. Further south, in Kirotshe, the organization will provide surgical and emergency support at the local hospital.

In Minova, also west of Goma, an MSF team continues supporting a cholera treatment center, where an average of 50 new patients are being treated each week.

While some displaced people are returning to their places of origin around North Kivu, many of the displaced and local residents continue to be in urgent need of food, clean water, healthcare, and basic items like blankets and shelter materials.

The situation is relatively calm north of Goma, Kitchanga, and Mweso, where MSF is providing primary and secondary healthcare and running mobile clinics. In Masisi, 80 km northwest of Goma, a six-person MSF international team and 80 Congolese colleagues are providing healthcare at a hospital and health center.

Further east, along the border with Uganda, MSF teams are assessing the condition of thousands of Congolese refugees and displaced people.

MSF is continuing to explore the area as security conditions permit and is identifying displaced people with unmet health needs. Some 52 international staff are working with MSF in North Kivu now, including doctors, nurses, logisticians, and administrators, among others.

November 03th

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is continuing to work in Goma and in other towns and villages in the province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The organization remains very concerned about the tens of thousands of people still on the move who have fled the recent fighting. Without improvements in the security situation, people will be forced to continue running.

Even with today’s widely reported aid delivery, displaced people throughout North Kivu continue to be in urgent need of food, clean water, healthcare, and basic items like blankets and shelter materials.

In Goma and along the roads to the north, MSF teams are continuously evaluating the situation of the displaced and local residents in an effort to identify needs that may have been overlooked. Overall, the situation in and around the city seems to be stable for the moment.

Over the weekend, MSF mobile clinics performed more than 100 consultations in Kibati, just north of Goma, where large numbers of displaced people are camped. Additional mobile clinics are working in Kibati today. MSF and other organizations are supplying clean water to the camp, but food is especially needed there.

West of Goma, on the Goma-Saké road, MSF teams continue to treat cholera patients in camps for displaced people, and at cholera treatment centers in Goma, Kitchanga, and Minova. There have been 69 cases of cholera in the four displaced persons camps around Goma over the past week, and 20 in Kitchanga. In Buturande, near Rutshuru, there are 5 to 10 new cases per day.

Northwest of Goma, in Kitchanga, MSF has managed to increase the water supply in the Mungote displaced persons camp from two liters to at least 10 liters per person per day. Teams will try to achieve similar increases in two other camps in the area.

Displaced persons camps in Rutshuru were burned down last week and are now empty. People have fled north towards Kayna and Kanyabayonga, where more than 10,000 displaced people have arrived and where MSF is running mobile clinics and supporting Kayna General Hospital.

MSF has also been assessing the movement of people over the border into Uganda. Last week teams found approximately 4,000 displaced people In Kisoro, Uganda. Others were found in Kitagoma and Ishasha.

As one of the few humanitarian organizations working in North Kivu, MSF is exploring ways to increase its response to the crisis to meet the needs of the population. The organization is continuing to work in hospitals in Masisi, Mweso, and Rutshuru and will continue operating mobile clinics in areas affected by fighting and displacement.

October 29th

The humanitarian situation in the Kivu region of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is continuing to deteriorate rapidly. Over the weekend, intense fighting erupted around the town of Rutshuru, some 70 kilometers from the provincial capital, Goma. On Sunday, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical teams in Rutshuru treated 70 war wounded and have since been working around the clock.

Thousands of people are fleeing the fighting – many have been on the run for weeks. The situation is extremely volatile and is changing from hour to hour. MSF teams continue to provide independent emergency medical aid to people in towns and camps throughout the conflict zone, namely in and around Kitchanga, Masisi, Mweso, Nyanzale and Kayna. In Kitchanga, Masisi, Mweso, and Rutshuru, MSF is the only remaining international organization providing medical and humanitarian assistance.

On Monday, fighting broke out near Kibumba, a village located between Rutshuru and Goma. Thousands of people, from Kimbumba town and nearby camps for the displaced, have fled to Kibati, about 12 km from Goma, where two camps already existed.

“When we heard about the situation near Kibati, we sent our team to evaluate,” says Marie-Noëlle Rodrigue, head of MSF’s emergency desk. “We saw a lot of people staying on the side of the road, coming from the Kibumba area. Most of them have already fled once and were already living in displaced camps.”

“Now they have had to flee again. For them the situation is very difficult as they arrived with only what they could carry. They need shelter, food and clean water soon. We are making a rapid assessment of the situation.”

MSF is currently working in three hospitals in North Kivu and is also supporting several health centers, providing primary, and secondary health care. The organization has also sent mobile clinics to reach people in need of medical care. MSF is sending additional international staff to the region, and is setting up a new base in Bukavu, South Kivu, to support the relief efforts.

“In the Kitchanga and Mweso areas, and also around Masisi and Nyanzale, we have set up mobile clinics to enable us to reach those that cannot reach us,” says Annie Desilets, MSF project coordinator in Kitchanga.

“It’s not always easy to find the displaced people. We go to an area one week where there is a village and we go back the next week and it’s empty. Are they in a center, a village or a camp where we can provide health care? Or are they hiding in the bush where we cannot access them? We don’t know.”

Photos: Sven Torfinn