Kinshasa, April 24th, 2025 (CPA) – One hundred and seventy-two (172) disaster victims of the floods of April 4th to 5th, 2025 in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), sick people accommodated at the Martyrs stadium site, have been consulted on Thursday, for free care organised by the NGO ‘Le Bouclier’, CPA has learned from an association source. ‘172 disaster victims have already been seen since the morning, among them 123 adults and 49 children with various pathologies, and some have already begun to be treated on site,’ has declared Dr Jacques Mbengesa, a member of the medical staff of the NGO Le Bouclier and the site’s attending physician. ‘We are in the process of compiling statistics. Malaria is at 32.4% and we have had 16.9% of urogenital infections. We also have dermatosis (a skin problem) (10.4%), flu syndrome (8.8%), dyspeptic syndrome (8.8%), hypertension (5.7%) and trauma (0.7%)’, he has noted. For this reason, he has continued, all these disaster victims use the mobile toilets installed there… ‘Diseases caused by dirty hands, including diarrhoea and cholera, are also common’, has lamented this doctor. He has also informed us that they have already transferred a number of patients suffering from closed trauma and acute respiratory infections to certain local health facilities for proper treatment.
This doctor has pointed out that this humanitarian assistance is being provided at all three (3) sites where the victims are being housed, namely the Martyrs stadium, the Tata Raphael stadium and the municipal field in the Bandalungwa municipality. For his part, Jean-David E’ngazi, the president of the NGO ‘Le Bouclier’, has pointed out that this action was part of the objectives set by his organisation, namely assistance and social and psycho-social care for victims of natural disasters, displaced persons, victims of rape and sexual violence, education, training, health, agriculture, farming and the environment (reforestation and sanitation). He has invited the medical staff present at these sites to show professionalism and above all a humanitarian spirit, because these people are human beings and they find themselves in a critical situation in their lives. An adequate care and a permanent follow-up are of paramount importance.