D.R. Congo > Activities by Sectors
Health and Nutrition
More than three decades of dictatorship, followed by years of inter-ethnic conflict, have left the country and its health system in ruins. Since the signing of the peace agreement in 2003, there has been some progress in the capacity of health clinics in remote locations of eastern D.R. Congo, but the LRA war in the far north has hugely overburdened the provincial health authorities.
Many health facilities are now hundreds of kilometres away from the closest pharmaceutical depot, requiring risky travel on extremely bad roads, which in turn hampers the supply of drugs and constrains the quality of available care.
Common diseases (most of them easily preventable) that are encountered in eastern D.R. Congo include malaria, diarrhoea, respiratory infections, sexually transmitted infections, and diseases resulting from HIV/AIDS.
Emergency Relief
Thanks to our widespread presence in Ituri and the Uélés districts, we are able to respond within 72 hours of a reported disease outbreak in our region of operations.
Medair trains the staff in health centres in response to disease outbreaks, and works with the district health authorities and other health organisations to respond to outbreaks such as measles, acute diarrhoea, or cholera.
Rehabilitation
Many of the health centres in which Medair works lack basic amenities such as a water source, latrines, waste pits, clinical waste incinerators, and showers. Many also lack basic medical equipment. We re-equip health centres with essential items and construct sanitation facilities. In 2011, we are working to improve access to water and sanitation in six health centres in Ango territory.
WASH (Water, sanitation, and hygiene)
In Ango town, a small number of rehabilitated wells are the only source of potable water for a population of 20,000 people, 12,000 of whom are internally displaced or returnees. Due to the lack of water points, most of the population have no other option but to use unprotected water sources or the river. Outside of Ango town, almost no WASH interventions had been conducted prior to Medair’s arrival. The government does not have the capacity to initiate this and there had been no significant humanitarian assistance prior to Medair’s intervention.
Rehabilitation
Medair is working to improve access to drinking water and sanitation facilities in six localities in Ango territory where the needs are greatest. We are building or rehabilitating water points, supporting the construction of household latrines, providing health clinics with latrines, bathrooms, and waste management facilities, and conducting widespread training on proper hygiene.
Shelter and Infrastructure
Psychosocial treatment
Road transport between Isiro and Ango requires travel on dirt roads that run through forests that need to be cut back regularly to allow passage of vehicles. Bridges on the road have degraded over the years, mainly due to lack of maintenance. Seasonal rains and heavy vehicles have rapidly degraded the road surface. The 120-kilometre stretch between Isiro and Poko takes between five and six hours during the dry season—and longer during the rainy season in March and April. As a result, getting goods and humanitarian assistance to Ango is a challenge.
Rehabilitation
Medair is constructing or rehabilitating bridges on the road between Isiro and Ango to improve humanitarian access to Ango Territory. Our survey identified 15 bridges along the route that needed to be built, repaired, or rehabilitated to allow trucks of 25 tonnes to pass. The bridges range in size from a four-metre span across a stream to a 200-metre metal bridge built in the 1950s that needs to be rehabilitated. We are working closely with the national Office de Route. When the project has been completed, road access for humanitarian assistance to Poko, Ganga, and Ango territories from Isiro will be significantly improved.
