Health services in the Catholic diocese of Tshumbe, in the Sankuru district of central DRC, are in a state of severe deterioration, with valuable medical equipment having been looted by forces on both sides of the ongoing DRC conflict, according to a press statement released on Wednesday by the non-governmental organisation Catholic Relief Services (CRS). In addition, medical personnel have gone unpaid for a long time and, with essential medicines running low, the rebel-held area is cut off from its supply source in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, the report said. CRS and the Diocesan Medical Office of Tshumbe have now started distributing essential medicines and medical supply kits to six general hospitals, two secondary hospitals and 200 health centres and health posts. The people of the diocese needed emergency humanitarian assistance and “these medicines are essential for treating the most common diseases such as malaria, as well as to enable the provision of basic health care service for Tshumbe,” the statement quoted CRS Country Representative Kevin Hartigan as saying.
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