Kinshasa, May 21st, 2025 (CPA) – The evaluation of the Multisectoral Strategic Plan for the Elimination of Cholera and the Fight against Other Diarrhoeal Diseases (PMSEC-MD) 2023-2027 was the focus of a workshop held from 21 to 23 May in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ‘I am delighted that this workshop to evaluate the first two years of the PMSEC-MD 2023-2027 is being held today. As well as providing a framework for assessing the behaviour of these diseases in the population, it gives us the opportunity to obtain updated data on the achievement of public health objectives’, said Guylain Nyembo, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of Planning and Coordination of Development Aid. ‘For several years now, we have been seeing recurrent epidemics emerging, often as a result of breakdowns in the provision of basic social services or lack of access to them, natural disasters, environmental factors or promiscuity’, he added. ‘We are waiting for the analyses and results, which will be published in the relevant bodies, and for clear recommendations so that we can step up our actions’, he said. Professor Didier Bompangue, Deputy Director of the One Health institute for Africa (INOHA), pointed out that cholera should not be managed solely as a health problem, but as a much more global problem. ‘The particularity of this assessment is that it is taking place at a time when the country is in the grip of epidemics in virtually more than half of its territory, and in a context of climate change, with an increase in cases of cholera linked to climate change, conflicts and population movements’, he explained. Prof. Bompangue noted that cholera is currently being financed in a more complex way, as it is occurring against a backdrop of climatic and socio-political crisis. At the same time, he praised the commitment of financial partners to the implementation of the PMSEC-MD 2023-2027, including the World Bank, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Veolia Foundation, the international organization Path and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Mr Antoine Lumonadio, Executive Secretary of the National Water, Hygiene and Sanitation Action Committee (C.N.A.E.H. A) of the Ministry of Planning, said that over the three days, the PMSEC would be evaluated, with the aim of analyzing the factors that explain the adult cholera situation in the DRC, identifying the progress made during the first two years of PMSEC implementation at all levels, and identifying the bottlenecks observed at each level during implementation of the plan.
The DRC faces a surge in cholera cases
WHO representative Valentin Mukinda said that the country was facing an outbreak of cholera, with both endemic and non-endemic provinces reporting cases. ‘We risk having many more cases than in previous years. We are facing a situation where efforts are very limited’, he added. The workshop will be attended by a number of experts from various ministries, including Health, Planning and Finance. Cholera is an extremely virulent disease transmitted by the ingestion of contaminated food or water, with symptoms appearing between 12 hours and 5 days after the ingestion of contaminated food or water. The annual evaluation workshop for years 1 and 2 of the PMSEC-MD is organized by C.N.A.E.H.A, which is led by the Ministry of Planning and Coordination of Development Aid.