Poverty and Poor Healthcare in Congo
Poverty and Poor Healthcare in Congo
Introduction
Poverty- Congo is a central African country. Congo is one of the most resourced countries on the globe. The country has the largest geographical area in Africa. This means that land is an abundant resource in this country. The country is situated in the tropical region making a large portion of its land agriculturally productive. The country is also home to the largest portion of the remaining equatorial rain forest. This makes timber an abundant resource in the Congo. The country has reserves of gold, iron, diamonds and other minerals. It is estimated that the country’s untapped mineral resources have a value of more than $ 24 trillion. In spite of the country’s vast natural resources, two third of the Congolese population lives on less than 1 dollar day. Eighty percent of the Congo population does not have access to healthcare. This paper explores the reasons that hinder Congo from escaping from poverty and poor health.
Health and Poverty Situation in Congo
Congo is among the poorest nation on earth. In 2011, the country’s average GDP stood at $ 356. According to the Interchurch Organization (2012), 75% of the Congolese live below the poverty line (Interchurch, 2010). Employment opportunities are limited to the country’s capital, where only a small portion of the population dwells. The large part of the Congolese population dwells in the rural areas where they depend on traditional economic activities such as fishing and subsistence agriculture. Living conditions in Congo is dismal due to massive poverty. Over 50% of the population has no access to clean drinking water (Mock, Buhr, & Makungo, 2006). This is despite the country being home to the widest river in African, the Congo River. Eighty percent of the Congo population does not have access to healthcare. Mortality rate in the Congo is significantly high. This is due to prevalence of diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria (Mock, Buhr, & Makungo, 2006). Infant mortality is also high due to inadequate access to maternal healthcare.
Factors that have propagated Poverty and Poor Health
Political Instability
Political instability is a primary reason that hinders Congo from escaping from poverty and healthcare problem. Congo has suffered from political violence is the last five decades. In 1965, Mobutu Sese Seko overthrew the legitimate president in order to take over the country’s leadership (Kitenge, 2011). Mobutu ruled the country from 1965 to 1997. During Mobutu’s reign, there were a lot of revolutions against this illegitimate form of government. Rebel faction rose from different corners of the country and engaged the government in unwavering battles. In 1997, rebels led by Laurent Kabila expelled Mobutu from power (Kitenge, 2011). However, political unrest did not end as Kabila was later assassinated leaving his eldest son to take over the leadership of the country. The country has also been ravaged by civil war between various communities.
The political instability in the Congo led to a significant decline in the health of the population in various ways (Kitenge, 2011). One of way is by leading to destruction of heath care and other infrastructures. The numerous wars that have rocked the country have left the country’s healthcare facilities in rumbles. Continued battles have also made the construction of healthcare facilities with the remote location almost impossible. The destruction of healthcare facilities has led to rapid reduction in the number of people who have access to healthcare (Kitenge, 2011). Numerous wars also led to the destruction of infrastructures that are essential to the delivery of healthcare. These infrastructures include; roads, electricity and clean water. The destruction of these infrastructures has also reduced the accessibility to healthcare services.
Apart from destruction of infrastructure, political instability has also affected the people’s health by affecting their capacity to earn a livelihood. There is a strong connection between the standard of living and status of health (Keselman, 2009). People who live in deplorable condition tend to be less healthy than people living in comfortable conditions. People whose standard of living is high can easily have access to healthcare because they can meet the costs. In addition, wealthier people have access to better nutrition, better housing and sanitation facilities (World Bank, 2011). These items have a direct link to health. The political instability destroyed the livelihoods of millions of people. Millions of Congolese were forced to flee from their residence and look for sanctuary in camps within and without Congo. This meant that they could no longer earn a living. This has significantly degraded their living standards and consequently their health status.
Corruption
Mobutu establish a political system where the executive assumed immense power. Mobutu used this power to swindle the country’s resources in order to enrich himself (Kitenge, 2011). Other official in his government were equally corrupt as they also participated in rooting public resources. Regime that succeeded Mobutu’s government did not implement many changes despite returning the political leadership back to civilians. Corruption still persists among government officials.
Corruption has had dire consequence on the health status of the population. As a result of massive corruption, resources for development purpose where channeled into individuals bank accounts (Kitenge, 2011). Consequently, there have been little development efforts in the country in the last five decades. The healthcare infrastructure is underdeveloped, especially outside Kinshasa. Mismanagement of public funds meant that funds for developing health care facilities were not used for this purpose. Massive corruption also affected the development of other infrastructures that support health (Kitenge, 2011). These include roads, electricity and water. These infrastructures remain in a poor state due to mismanagement of funds.
Apart from affecting essential health infrastructure, corruption has also affected the economy of the country. Massive corruption, coupled with other problems, has made Congo a poor destination for business (Interchurch, 2010). Consequently, the economy of the country has suffered despite the country being the richest in terms of natural resources. In the 1990, the economy of the country collapsed due to massive corruption. The mismanagement of government resources had the delivery of services impossible. The poor state the economy has been reflected in the living and health conditions of the population. More than 75% of the population cannot afford to pay for healthcare services (African Development Bank, 2009). They also lack basic necessities such as clean water, proper housing and nutrition due to limited economic resources.
Corruption has also hindered the development of education, which is an essential determinant of health status (Lee & Kuo, 2010). Society with high literacy levels tends to exhibit low prevalence of disease. This is because education makes people conscious of way of taking care of their health. It has become hard to manage diseases such as diarrhea, HIV, malaria and tuberculosis due to inadequate health literacy.
Vast Terrain
Congo is currently the largest in Africa. The country covers an area of 2,345,408 square kilometers (Kitenge, 2011). This is bigger than the geographical areas of Norway, Sweden, Germany and Spain combined. The vastness of the country has made reaching all parts of the country difficult. Only a small portion of the population lives in urban centers. The remaining portion of the population is scarcely distributed in the vast territory of the country (Kitenge, 2011). These regions are poor served with health care facilities thus most inhabitants have limited access to healthcare. The country is also home to the largest tropical rainforest. Much of the western Congo is difficult to penetrate due to the presence of this thick equatorial forest. Apart from making the areas inaccessible, the rain forest forms a good habitat for disease vectors thus increasing the incidents of diseases.
Areas that are not covered with the rain forest are also inaccessible due to the presence of rugged train. The Eastern region of Congo comprises of mountainous terraces and thick grasslands (Kitenge, 2011). The poor state of the physical infrastructure has made a miserable situation worse. The transport and communication infrastructure outside the country’s capital is underdeveloped. The poor state of the transport infrastructure increases the challenges of delivering healthcare to rural dwellers (Kitenge, 2011). Some of the country’s regions are totally inaccessible via roads. Medical providers have to find alternative forms of transport in order to reach the communities living in these areas.
Conclusion
Congo is among the most resourced countries on the globe. However, more than 75% of the Congolese people live below the poverty line. This has affected the health condition of the nation with only 20 percent of the population being able to gain access to healthcare. This paper has explored the reasons that hinder Congo from escaping the poverty and healthcare problems. Three significant factors have been identified; political instability, corruption and the country’s vast terrain. Political instability has led to destruction of healthcare facilities, essential infrastructure and people livelihoods. Corruption has hindered the development of healthcare facilities, education and essential infrastructure. Corruption has also affected the country’s economy and hence the living conditions of the population. The vast terrain has made a significant portion of the population inaccessible to healthcare providers.
References
African Development Bank (2009). Democratic Republic of Congo. December 2, 2012. http:// ecentralisation_english__01.pdf
Interchurch (2010). Democratic Republic of Congo. December 2, 2012. http://www.interchurch.org/where-we-work/democratic-republic-of-congo.html
Keselman D. (2009). Poverty and Health from the Health System Perspective. Israeli Journal of Emergency Medicine. 9 (3): 42- 46\
Kitenge N. (2011). Leadership, Peace, Stability and Prosperity. December 2, 2012. http://www.usip.org/files/resources/SR_289.pdf
Lee S. & Kuo K. (2010). Health Literacy, Health Status and Healthcare Utilization of Taiwanese Adults. BMC Public Health Journal. 10 (614)
Mock N. Buhr E. & Makungo M. (2006). Public Health Training in the Democratic Republic of Congo. December 2, 2012. http://www.jhsph.edu/research/affiliated-programs/global-research-activity/Congo.pdf
World Bank (2005). Democratic Republic of Congo: Health, Nutrition and Population. December 2, 2012. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTAFRREGTOPEDUCATION/Resources/444659-1212165766431/H_CSR_DRC.pdf
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