Heavy fighting over the last few days in Walikale, a town in the troubled North Kivu province of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has forced Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to suspend its medical activities despite the area being in the midst of a malaria outbreak.

DRC 2011 © Raghu Venugopal
An MSF doctor does rounds in the malnutrition ward in Mweso, a town in North Kivu, DRC. Malaria can contribute to up to 50 per cent of death in hospitalized malnourished children. Recent violence in the town of Walikale in North Kivu has forced MSF to suspend activities there despite the area being in the midst of a malaria outbreak.

“The recent fighting and insecurity in Walikale make it impossible for our team to carry out their medical work,” says Andrew Mews, MSF’s head of mission in Goma. “We’re very concerned about civilians living in the area that are exposed to this violence and also denied healthcare as a result.”

MSF started an emergency malaria intervention in Walikale in June. Many of the people affected by the deadly disease had already been displaced by earlier fighting and were living in the dense rainforest that surrounds the town. In the last month, MSF was treating more than a thousand patients a week for malaria. Now, people in the area can no longer receive free lifesaving treatment.

DRC 2012 © Emily Lynch/MSF
This couple fled their village in North Kivu after an armed group attacked. They are now missing two of their five children. "We don't know why we came here. We are at war and we don’t know which direction to go. Everywhere there is war and everyone has fled," says the husband.

“Not only are people in Walikale at the mercy of conflicting armed groups, they are also in the middle of a malaria outbreak,” says Mews. “Any further displacement due to this violence is only likely to increase exposure to this deadly disease and a host of others.”

In DRC, malaria remains the leading cause of death for children under five and is endemic throughout the country.

Although medical activities have been suspended in Walikale, MSF staff continue to provide medical care in four reference hospitals, 12 health centres and four health posts elsewhere in North Kivu, as well as in four reference hospitals, 19 health centres and five health posts in the province of South Kivu. This work is in addition to running several cholera treatment centres, weekly mobile clinics and emergency response activities as needed.

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