New patients every day. In eastern Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Doctor Samy, head of the Mpox treatment center (CTM) at Kinkole general hospital, is overwhelmed by requests for treatment from patients who have tested positive . Especially since the city’s two other quarantine zones have exceeded their maximum reception capacity and are redirecting their flow towards Kinkole.
In Kinshasa, a megacity of 17 million inhabitants, there are only a little over a hundred beds dedicated to welcoming Mpox patients, spread across the three treatment centers set up to deal with the The epidemic awaits the start of vaccination, which should begin in the coming days, according to the authorities. At this stage, the DRC is the country most affected by the Mpox epidemic with 42,912 suspected cases, of which 9,454 cases have been confirmed. A total of 1,132 deaths were recorded.
Puddles of stagnant water next to patients’ beds
Doctor Samy is worried. A call has just come in: an entire sick family – parents and two children – must be quarantined. “We currently only have 28 beds to accommodate Mpox patients and all the places are already occupied,” he explains.
Lack of electricity, unsanitary toilets, puddles of stagnant water next to patients’ beds… In mid-October, Mpox patients interned at the CTM in Masina, in Kinshasa, shared a video on social networks where they addressed the Congolese Minister of Health to denounce their quarantine condition. “We are suffering from the Mpox virus, but we are also in an unhealthy environmenta man dressed in white complains in Lingala. We came to get treatment and we get typhoid fever instead. » These widely shared images were seen by Doctor Samy and his team.
It is away from the other buildings of the hospital that we find the patients. A building of around a hundred square meters in which men and women are separated by a screen. Average age 30 years. The youngest patient, in his mother’s arms, is only two months old. The doctors move around in full electric blue protective suits, facial protective masks and plastic visors, leaving not a single patch of skin visible.
Here, there is little other occupation, between each doctor’s visit, than watching television and counting the days until discharge from hospital. The ambient air is heavy and tempers heat up quickly. A patient who had been showing signs of agitation for several days suddenly began to insult the doctors and then started a fight with other patients before security officers arrived to control him.
Quarantine zone in a military camp
“Most of the patients we accept come from the most popular neighborhoods of Kinshasasays Béatrice, one of the ten doctors present that day to provide care. They are very suspicious and have difficulty coping with quarantine, which they see as captivity. » Doctor Samy continues: “It even happened that we had to accept inmates from Makala prison. We are doctors, not prison guards, we are not trained or numerous enough to manage this kind of situation. »
When contacted, the Kinshasa health authorities explained that they had set up a quarantine zone at the Kokolo military camp in Kinshasa at the beginning of November in order to accommodate sick prison inmates while “New care centers will be opened in the coming weeks in Kinshasa to relieve congestion in others already active.” No further details.
An announcement widely criticized by certain trade unionists, while a public hospital strike has continued in Kinshasa for several weeks to demand better working conditions. Joseph, a striking doctor, loses his temper: “In the DRC, being a doctor is a thankless job. We are asked to work like dogs and requisitioned in times of epidemic in the name of patriotism, but we are paid $500 per month for our entire career, without obtaining advancement. »
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