MSF activities

November 24th, 2009

November 2009 marks one year since fierce clashes in eastern DRC killed thousands of people and forced tens of thousands more to flee. Despite claims that the conflict has stabilised, violence against civilians continues unabated. In projects throughout North and South Kivu, Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is daily confronted with the wounds caused by this violence.

North Kivu

Congolese army operations against the Rwandan FDLR rebels have led to massive population displacements in Lubero district. Clashes in early 2009 led to villages being attacked, looted and burned.

In February and March, some 100,000 displaced people arrived in the Kayna area and Lubero town. In response, MSF extended its existing programme in Kayna and Kanyabayonga to Lubero district, where mobile teams provided consultations both to the displaced and residents in areas most affected by the violence. Serious cases were transferred to MSF-run hospitals.

In Rutshuru district, the situation is less insecure, but remains unstable. Gunshot wounds are treated at the MSF-run hospital in Rutshuru town on a regular basis, and acts of banditry are frequent.

MSF surgical teams work round the clock, performing an average of 15 operations per day. Serious cases are referred by ambulance to this 280-bed hospital. Activities include emergency care, internal medicine, paediatrics, intensive care and a maternity ward that delivers more than 300 babies per month. The hospital also has specialised units for burns, neonatal care and cholera treatment.

In Nyanzale, MSF runs a 130-bed hospital with a maternity, a small operating theatre, an outpatient department, a therapeutic feeding centre for malnourished children, and internal medicine and intensive care wards. Specialised medical care is also provided to an average per month of 142 victims of sexual violence. In the unstable area around Nyanzale where different armed groups are present and population movements are important, MSF performs consultations and measles vaccinations

In October 2009, as the situation calmed and some displaced people began returning home, MSF closed its Kabizo programme. For over a year, MSF provided health care to the displaced and resident population as well as treated children for malnutrition, provided specialised care to victims of sexual violence and ran mobile clinics.

In Masisi district, MSF works in the 170-bed hospital in Masisi town where 71,000 consultations were performed in the past year and the 160-bed Mweso hospital, where the focus is on emergency surgery and specialised care for victims of sexual violence. Teams also work in health centres in Kitchanga, Mweso, Masisi and Nyabiondo. There are therapeutic feeding centres for malnourished children at the Masisi and Mweso hospitals, and at the Kitchanga health centres.

More than 6,000 counselling sessions were organised since June this year in the mental health programme in Kitchanga. Also in Masisi, a network of community workers is specialised in raising awareness and support for victims of sexual violence.

MSF vaccinated more than 300,000 children aged between 6 months and 15 years old against measles in Masisi district, and did emergency water and sanitation work in several camps where thousands of displaced people have found refuge.

Further south, MSF teams are supporting Kirotshe General Hospital and three rural health centres (Rubaya, Ngungu, Rushoga) on the border between North and South Kivu.

In the last few months, the security situation in this area has improved, and displaced people have returned to their villages. However, many displaced families remain, living mostly in Kirotshe, Shasha and Ngungu, either in small camps or with host families. MSF continues to provide free health care for these people.

Since July 2009, MSF teams have also been doing emergency surgery in the hospital of Chambucha, in Hombo North, where fighting is still reported around the city.

During August 2009, a cholera epidemic broke out in the city of Goma. MSF teams supported three health centres and the Goma General Hospital with supplies and provided water by water trucking.

In Rutshuru, Nyanzale and Masisi, MSF built “women’s villages” to care for women with high risk pregnancies, and victims of sexual violence.

South Kivu

The situation in South Kivu is unstable as clashes between the Congolese army, the FDLR and various rebel groups continue to rage in several areas, leading to the displacement of thousands of people. Families are forced to flee their villages to avoid being caught in the clashes or suffer reprisals by armed groups. They seek refuge in neighbouring communities. In 2009, three waves of displacement brought the number of displaced to around 42,000 in Kalonge district.

MSF teams are providing health care to the displaced and host families in the Kalonge, working in Chifunzi general hospital and in five rural health centres (Chifunzi, Chaminunu, Mutale, Mule and Fendula). Recently MSF also distributed essential items and farming tools to 1,324 displaced families. MSF also provides specialised medical care to victims of sexual violence.

MSF supports the hospital in Baraka where there have been 16,000 consultations, and 5000 patients hospitalised. Teams have battled endemic cholera in the Baraka area, doing water chlorination and treating patients. Malnutrition is also a chronic problem, and more than 700 children have been admitted to nutrition programmes in the past year.

In response to displacement caused by the military offensive against the FDLR, MSF ran a three-month emergency program in Lulingu beginning in July 2009. The Lulingu project supported three health centres, providing basic health care for the displaced and resident population.

In both North and South Kivu, MSF responds to the insecure and rapidly changing situation with mobile clinics, assessment of new areas, and rapid relocation of teams. Mobile teams work in the villages and camps around Rutshuru, Nyanzale, Lubero, Mweso, Kitchanga, Pinga, Masisi, Kirotshe, and Kalonge.

From mid March to mid August, a flying surgical team went to three sites affected by violence with no access to surgical care: Bunyakiri (South Kivu), Kayna and Nyamilima (North Kivu). The team performed overall 289 surgeries, 31% being violence related.

MSF has been providing medical care to the population of eastern DRC since 1992.

From October 2008 to November 2009, MSF teams in South and North Kivu have:

Cared for 5,330 victims of sexual violence
Performed 1,550 surgical interventions for people wounded by violence
Given 528,850 medical consultations
Treated 4,900 cholera patients
Vaccinated more than 330,000 children against measles
Treated 10,160 children for malnutrition
Provided 7,060 counselling sessions

Orientale Province

Since late 2008, the civilian population of Haut and Bas-Uélé has been caught up in a dramatic cycle of violence linked to attacks perpetrated by the Ugandan rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and the Ugandan and Congolese offensive against the LRA. As the situation deteriorates, civilians also find themselves facing increasing banditry.

One year after violence erupted in Haut-Uélé district, in northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), attacks and clashes have now expanded to new areas, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee. MSF is working in five locations of Haut-Uélé and Bas-Uélé to bring free health care, emergency aid, and psychological support to the displaced and resident populations.

Haut-Uélé

From June to September, MSF conducted 2,800 outpatient consultations in the two health centres it supports in Namboli and Lipay, in the Dungu area. Most patients were treated for malaria, diarrhoea, and respiratory infections.

In Dungu hospital, MSF medical teams performed 452 surgeries, cared for 100 severely malnourished children, and for another 220 children with a variety of other health problems.

Since August, MSF has also worked in reproductive health and supports the hospital’s maternity department, where sexually transmitted infections are common.

Teams provided psychological support for 88 patients who had suffered as a result of the violence.

Doruma, a town on the border with Sudan, is at the heart of a very insecure area. The population of Doruma and the 12,000 people who have fled there are at risk of hunger – it is too dangerous for them to go to their fields and tend their crops.

MSF supports three health centres where 2,500 outpatient consultations have been carried out this year. MSF also supports the hospital in Doruma, where 94 patients were hospitalised in September. In October, MSF began providing mental health support and treatment for sleeping sickness, in addition to supporting the surgical and maternity wards.

Niangara is the main town at the crossroads leading to the Central African Republic and Southern Sudan. Around 11,000 displaced people have arrived in the town, fleeing violence. MSF is supporting the main referral hospital in Niangara and the nearby Wawé health centre.

Since the start of MSF activities there seven months ago, medical teams have carried out up to 1,000consultations per week at the general hospital and the Wawé health centre.

Each month, around 100 new patients are admitted to Niangara hospital. MSF is mainly treating malaria, respiratory infections, sexually transmitted infections and stress-related diseases.

MSF teams put a psychosocial programme in place to help the local population cope with the trauma and stress of continuous violence and displacement. Between June and early November, 80 patients received treatment.

Following attacks in December 2008, MSF started to provide medical and psychological care in Faradje. Teams cared for more than 100 children, both boys and girls, who had been abducted by armed men and then escaped or were released. They were given a place to sleep, a space to play, and individual support from an MSF psychologist. This programme has been handed over to another organisation.

MSF continues to support Faradje hospital, where some 11,000 patients have received consultations and 900 were treated in the maternity, paediatric, surgical or internal medicine departments. The main diseases treated here are malaria, intestinal parasites and skin infections.

Bas-Uélé

The Dingila area, Bas-Uélé district, is a key destination for displaced people fleeing the areas of Banda and Dakwa. About 16,000 people displaced by violence have sought refuge in the Dingila area.

In early September, MSF began supporting the town’s hospital, plus three health centres (Nzongolia, Tombola and Bambili), with a focus on caring for victims of violence.

MSF also vaccinated more than 33,000 children in Haut and Bas Uélé. Teams distributed essential items like plastic sheeting, blankets, mosquito nets and jerry cans in Doruma and Dingila.

MSF has been present in the Uélé region since 2008, where 27 international staff work alongside 140 Congolese colleagues.

Help us!

MSF teams provide medical and humanitarian assistance to people affected by the ongoing crisis in Eastern Congo.

MSF works in DRC and in more than 60 countries worldwide to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. More than 80% of MSF overall funding comes from private donations. This allows us to respond quickly and provide urgent medical care to hundreds of thousands of people each year in countries that receive little attention from the international community.

MSF works under the principles of independence, impartiality and neutrality. It is important that our neutral stance is both understood and respected by all parties involved in a conflict. This is crucial to access people in critical need. To continue to work independently we need support from the general public worldwide.