Monday 4 June 2012

Congo Health

I would love to thank all our viewers that have been reading our blog! We have reached 1,000 views! Yay! Thanks so much for spreading the word! I believe we made a difference in the world just by doing this!

 
Today I found out that we soon unfortunately have to wrap up our social activism projects. That kinda makes me sad. I enjoy posting on this blog and I'll admit, I get a bit competitive when it comes to blogging. :P There's still a lot of things to do before we wrap up this project!

 
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Although Rosanne started this post, I believe she deserves a slice of karma. So I, Jen, am going to finish it for her! Mwahaha.

Two weeks from now is the official deadline for our activism projects (well, according to Mrs. Shepherd that is). But, the glorious thing about a blog is we can leave it unattended, and people will still be able to read all the fabulous information we have posted! And who knows, maybe we will be back once in a while.

To be honest, I have really no idea what Rosanne meant by the title. So I am going to interpret it as the health care available in the Congo.

One of the causes of mortality in the DRC is malnutrition. Unfortunately, this accounts for 11% of total deaths. This is due to ongoing violence preventing the young and weak from adequate nutrtion. This is especially upsetting, because you don't need to be a doctor to know how to "cure" it!

The majority of victims of illness suffer from infectious diseases such as malaria, which is not uncommon in third world countries. Of course, these can be avoided as well as treated under normal circumstances. But unfortunately limited health care hinders this.

According to this source, the mains barriers to access of health care are:
  • inadequacy or non-existence of healthcare provision
  • patients’ inability to pay for healthcare
  • non-availability of quality medication
  • lack of supervision and training of medical personnel
  • non-payment of health workers’ and officials’ salaries
  • geographical inaccessibility and non-existence of the communication structures
needed for the long distances between patients’ homes and the nearest health
centre.


Another need for health care stems from the ongoing violence. Out of an interviewed 986 families, fiftey cases of rape were reported, as well as 72% had admitted that a member of their family was a victim of violence.

Here is a frightening quote I found while I was researching:

Most Congolese people live in absolute poverty on an average of just $0.30 a day. In the rural areas most of the families are vulnerable and sickness or disease are regarded as a tragedy. Just like four years ago, most of the victims are still dying in silence, while the world’s attention is elsewhere.


According to this source, only 20% of the DRC currently has access to health care. The two major reasons are poverty and terrain. Not only do two thirds of the people live on less than $1 a day, but the country is vast and with no paved roads. This doctor goes on to talk about various cases, which is really quite interesting!

I hope as the world becomes increasingly globalized, ordinary people like us will have the ability to make a significant difference in Congolese lives. The first source I read was from the Doctors without Borders program. This has always been a dream of mine, to be able to treat sick children and young people in poor countries. If I worked as a doctor in Canada, I would inevitably be dealing with cases of drunk driving accidents, drug abusers, gang members, and careless accidents. Although these people should not be denied care, I would much rather help people who value their lives much more. Why are we spending so much money on people who throw away their lives and who are likely to repeat the same actions, while so many deaths are caused by a lack of funds for basic health care.

Well that was my rant for the day. I better leave it at that. I hope it gave you some food for thought.


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