More than 80% of health facilities in eastern Congo are out of medicine, Red Cross says

Over 200 health facilities in eastern Congo are facing critical medicine shortages, a direct result of ongoing conflict and collapsing humanitarian funding.

A new assessment by the International Committee of the Red Cross reveals that 80% of clinics in North and South Kivu, provinces ravaged by war, are operating without any external support. Many have no access to basic treatments for malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis.

The fighting, driven by the Rwanda backed M23 rebels, has made it nearly impossible to transport medicine across front lines, even when supplies exist. Over 3,000 people have been killed this year, and 7 million are now displaced, deepening what’s already one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Health workers are fleeing. Patients are dying. And thousands of lives hang in the balance, says François Moreillon of the ICRC.

This is not just a medical emergency, it’s a human catastrophe, and the world’s attention and action is desperately needed.