Clinics in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are under huge strain as the M23 rebel offensive continues to displace thousands. Many of those returning to their homes in Sake, a town close to Goma, have little access to healthcare. Aid workers are struggling to keep up with the growing humanitarian crisis.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hundreds of wounded and ill people are pouring into overcrowded hospitals in Goma, a major
00:06city in the eastern Congo.
00:09This comes as fighting rages between government forces and Rwanda-backed rebels who captured
00:14the city of around 2 million people.
00:16In Saket town, just 27 kilometers from Goma, a major health facility is overwhelmed with
00:22patients seeking urgent medical help.
00:25Tumsifu Issa has brought her two-year-old child to be treated for cholera symptoms.
00:30Before we got here, he was in a very bad condition, but when we arrived, the doctors took care
00:39of him.
00:40He's now feeling better.
00:43Most of the patients being treated by Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, were forced to flee
00:48displacement camps around Goma due to M23 attacks.
00:52Their return to Saket has exposed them to further risks.
00:55A lack of clean drinking water has worsened the spread of diseases.
00:59Esther, a returnee from the Kanyarunchina camp near Goma, fell ill after drinking unsafe
01:06water.
01:07Five days after my return home, I started feeling sick to my stomach.
01:15I began vomiting and lost my appetite.
01:19I came here today after learning that help was available and treatment was free.
01:27The ongoing M23 offensive has left Saket's hospital in distress.
01:31The facility was ransacked during the fighting, and MSF teams had to re-equip it before resuming
01:38medical operations.
01:40But the demand for medicine is skyrocketing, while resupply remains a major hurdle because
01:46there is no humanitarian corridor.
01:51I think what's needed is for humanitarian corridors to open so that we can receive our
01:56fright internationally and get it here to Goma.
01:59Otherwise, we risk running out of stock, and with the population suffering, many lives
02:05could be lost if supplies don't arrive on time.
02:10Medical teams work tirelessly to provide outpatient care and routine vaccinations.
02:16The hospital has already admitted over 200 patients, with cholera and malaria being the
02:22most common illnesses.
02:24Aid workers have appealed for an international intervention to ensure the safe delivery of
02:29life-saving medical supplies.