British government gives US $900,000 in medical aid

The British ambassador in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Jim Atkinson, said on Tuesday that Britain would give US $900,000 in December for health projects in the DRC. The funding, part of a $27 million bilateral aid programme for the DRC, would be used to provide medicine and medical equipment, to rebuild health facilities and train medical personnel, Atkinson said. The money would be channelled through the NGO International Rescue Committee (IRC) which has set itself a goal of reducing the rate of mortality and disease among the population spread across South Kivu, Oriental, Kasai-Occidental and Katanga Provinces, he said. "IRC intends to expand its routine vaccination programme, rehabilitate health facilities and train professionals in primary healthcare," a statement issued by the embassy said. For the period March 2003 to April 2004 Britain is channelling $900,000 through the NGO Medecines Sans Frontieres to alleviate a nutritional crisis in three health zones in North Kivu Province. It has also given the NGO Christian Relief Network funding to help, among others, 15,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees living in the forests of North Kivu awaiting repatriation.