Kinshasa, September 4th, 2025 (CPA). – The number of patients admitted to the Salama clinic in Ituri province, in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has almost doubled in three months, according to a statement from the international organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) received on Thursday by CPA. ‘In the last three months, the admissions have almost doubled. We have had to switch to emergency mode and set up beds in tents. But the reality is that most of the wounded never make it here,’ has explained Asiyat Magomedova, MSF head of mission in the region, quoted in the document.
According to the source, inside the MSF-supported Salama Clinic, the corridors are always full, with stretchers coming and going, carried by medical staff or the few ambulances available. « Open fractures, gunshot wounds, shrapnel wounds… , every patient bears the brutal marks of the conflict on their body. But despite this visible influx, the majority of the wounded never reach the clinic. Since the beginning of the year, 250 patients have already been treated for serious injuries related to clashes and conflict violence, including 105 between July and August alone, » MSF has explained. Between recurring violence, inter-community conflict and the proliferation of armed groups, the civilian population in Ituri finds itself both directly and indirectly victimised. « What is happening in Ituri is unacceptable. The civilian population is daily victimised by atrocities committed by armed groups. MSF calls on all active state and non-state armed groups to spare civilians. Protecting the population from these atrocities is an absolute priority, » has urged Asiyat Magomedova. In its report entitled ‘Risking one’s life to survive’, published last March, MSF once again warned of this critical situation and the fact that nearly a third of civilian victims of violence treated in 2024 were women and children.