The FARDC and M23/AFC, escalating violence between armed groups, and their respective allies arrived in the city of Warkare on March 19 in North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, locked in Médecins (MSF) staff at local hospitals.
Recently, things have continued to get worse. The violence had a serious impact on people’s access to health care, as 80% of the community fled the city because they were afraid of hostilities after hearing fire. More than 700 displaced people have been evacuated to Warkare General Hospital, putting even more pressure on already limited medical resources.
“Our teams on the ground need to put their medical activities on hold when the fight breaks out and they can’t move safely,” says Natalia Trent, MSF Program Director at North Kivu. “The safety of our staff and patients is our number one priority.”
Our teams on the ground must put on hold medical activities when the fight breaks out and when they cannot move safely. Natalia Torrent, Head of Programs at MSF, North Kivu
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Hearing fierce gunshots are heard near our base, highlighting the extreme risks faced by both healthcare workers and the communities they serve. Two weeks ago, the Crossfire hit our logistics foundation, affecting our structure and some vehicles. A massive explosion occurred near a town general hospital that supports the Ministry of Health in providing medical care by MSF.
A serious shortage of essential drugs
Today, material challenges remain important, and there are no viable roads or air routes to promote supply and transport of personnel. The last supplies in the air arrived on January 17th. Providing humanitarian supply is a challenge as airports remain inoperable.
“Within two weeks, ground teams will begin to face a shortage of essential medicines, further complicating the team’s ability to provide emergency medical assistance,” Torrent said.
MSF once again calls on all fighting parties to respect, protect civilians, health facilities and healthcare workers, and to promote the provision of medical supplies to the community. We urgently request safe, guaranteed and guaranteed access to healthcare for all people affected by the conflict.
