Intro and conclusion

RUNNING HEAD: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO GROUP PAPER

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Running head: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO GROUP PAPER

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The Democratic Republic of the Congo Group Paper

Bianca C. Burgos, Luis Caza, Christina R. Morales, Sara I. Vallazza & Jennifer Zunzunegui

NUR 4667 Global Healthcare Systems

Instructions

· Examine the role of local, state, national, and global regulatory and accreditation agencies in providing quality healthcare. Who are the key actors? (Sara)

· Explore organizational and political processes and grassroots legislative efforts to influence healthcare policy and advocate for the country’s diverse populations (Jenny).

· Discuss how the country’s healthcare system, education, and economy influence the main health effects (Luis).

· Analyze how the country’s cultural, societal, legal, and environmental factors contribute to health disparities (Bianca)

· Discuss the impact of science and technology on the country’s healthcare outcome (Christina).

Rubric

Democratic Republic of the Congo Group Paper

Health disparities are greatly prevalent in the DRC, affecting over three million people in a short time frame of fewer than five years. Over 1000 people pass away daily and 98% of these deaths are due to very treatable diseases that are easily prevented ("Democratic Republic of the Congo", 2012). Untreated diseases/conditions such as malaria, acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, measles, malnutrition, and many others, also accounting for the majority of childhood mortality ("Democratic Republic of the Congo", 2012). According to the World Health Organization, malaria is responsible for 45% of childhood death, while the remaining diseases account for the remaining majority of death in children (Fund, 2007). Keeping epidemics under control is the DRC’s greatest priority, as the country is at a very high risk of any possible outbreak, including (re)emerging pathogens such as Ebola (Fund, 2007). Several factors contribute to these unfortunate circumstances, such as environmental, societal, and political factors. In addition to volcanic eruptions in the East, the flooding of the Congo river and the droughts of the South, high levels of conflict make this country extremely vulnerable to poor conditions (Fund, 2007). During the 1990s, the DRC was involved in the African War, which brought about 80% of the country (77 million people) into extreme poverty (Project, 2019). The DRC has had a long history of political instability and violence such as the civil war, which in turn, has destroyed many infrastructures that communities relied on for sanitation and clean water. The DRC has relied heavily on wealth from the mining industry due to its transition from Marxist to a Free Market economy. Therefore, their economy has not been appropriately managed, as their wealth was spent on patronage for government officials instead of humanitarian needs. This transition has subjected the DRC to a plethora of ceaseless internal conflicts (Project, 2019). The Health System has also weakened as health care works have not received salaries for decades and doctors from rural areas have gone to work in cities or received employment from international agencies. The educational health care system has also deteriorated, which creates huge concern about the qualifications of health care workers (Fund, 2007). In addition, to acquire emergency surgical procedures or treatment of severe illnesses is a huge struggle for the DRC population, for access is very limited and extremely costly. This leaves many with no access or placed in a further state of poverty (Fund, 2007). Although there are several programs assisting these concerning these disparities, such as The World Bank and La Nouvelle Esperance to assist in medical supplies and humanitarian needs, these disparities are likely to grow and continue due to the size and inaccessibility to a large percentage of the country (Project, 2019). All in all, following the Peace agreement of December of 2002 resulting in the closure of the seven years of civil conflict, the international community has launched major reconstruction programs leaving the community cautiously optimistic (Fund, 2007).

Technological and innovative changes have huge impacts that save thousands of lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Vaccinations are crucial to prevent illnesses from spreading rampantly, starting in one corner of the globe and insidiously coursing throughout the Earth. Vaccines require a cooler temperature to be stored in to remain viable; having to travel vast distances and be distributed amongst a country on the equator with a tropical climate is no easy task. Consequently, millions of children in the DRC were not receiving vaccines, which are essential to their well-being and survival, due to not having the equipment necessary to keep the vaccines viable over vast distances (Rhodes, 2019). The DRC maintains one of the highest child mortality rates in the world, with one in five unvaccinated children not making it to see their fifth birthday. Further complicating the situation, the DRC is the size of Western Europe and highly covered in dense forests and underdeveloped roads. The Ministry of Health and the Vaccine Alliance worked together in 2018 to launch a program to increase immunizations by 15% by 2020. If successful, more than 200,000 children could receive vaccines (Rhodes, 2019). Improved transportation to cover the country’s landscape and reliable equipment are vital to the success of the program, one that could save thousands of children in the DRC from life-threatening illnesses. Nearly five-thousand solar-powered fridges have been given to the DRC, with more headed their way; with the addition of these measures, huge waves of transformation take place in this country (Rhodes, 2019).

The DRC is the birthplace of the Ebola virus, and the spread was difficult to control due to the lack of conditions needed to keep vaccines viable. With fewer children receiving vaccines, the more difficult it becomes to control the spread of communicable diseases. Ebola spread like the wildfire in May 2018 (Shaw, 2019). The use of digital equipment aided in the monitoring and response of the outbreak. The devices were used to decipher where and when to deliver resources to counteract the virus’s rapid spread. Video chats and conferences can connect renowned medical experts and professionals around the world with just one click, making it easier than ever to come up with developments to widen DRC’s access to healthcare as well as preventing these communicable diseases from starting and spreading (Shaw, 2019). Technology’s potential for providing innovative and life-saving changes is sky-high; the development of technology allows for progress to be made in the healthcare sector, such as with the introduction of fridge trucks that make traveling with vaccines across great distances possible. In a country like the DRC that needs increased healthcare access and improved equipment in its healthcare system, advanced technology makes waves of change rather than just mere ripples.

References

Democratic Republic of the Congo. (2012, April 13). Retrieved November 21, 2019, from

https://www.who.int/hac/donorinfo/campaigns/cod/en/.

Fund, I. M. (2007). Democratic Republic of the Congo: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper: Joint

Staff Advisory Note. IMF Staff Country Reports, 07(331), 1. doi:

10.5089/9781451808452.002

Project, B. (2019, August 14). Facts about Poverty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Retrieved November 22, 2019, from

https://borgenproject.org/facts-about-poverty-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/.

Rhodes, M. (2019, March 4). There’s a health care revolution in the DRC. Retrieved November

22, 2019, from https://www.one.org/international/blog/health-care-revolution-drc/

Shaw, A. (2019, March 26). The promise of a digitally connected DR Congo. Retrieved

November 22, 2019, from https://path.org/articles/digital-congo-ebola/