While much of the world focuses on the violence and chaos that has been affecting much of the Middle East and Europe, another continent, Africa, has been struggling to deal with the consequences of violence and upheaval since 2013.
The Central African Republic has been affected particularly hard since the rise of sectarian tensions came to a head in 2013 and violent clashes left civilians caught in the middle struggling to survive and the country’s health care system broken, with many doctors fleeing the country. And one doctor, 58 year old Jen Goody pleading to other doctors to return home and help.
“I would have been ashamed to leave people suffering and then have to come back and look them in the eyes” the 58 year old said in an interview regarding the healthcare system and the suffering people of Central Africa.
Violence in the country has already affected the already struggling healthcare system as many medical professional have fled and left people suffering with many diseases that countries with a stable healthcare system would be able to fight off. One disease in particular that has spread is Malaria which has thrived under the chaos.
“This crisis has destroyed what little was left. Lots of healthcare facilities have been destroyed; lots of healthcare personnel have left the health centers. The level of healthcare was very, very, bad but now it is almost non-existent” said, Lawrence de Barros- Duchene, who is head of the Medicins sans Frontieres, Central African Republic division.
Some of the diseases that have been affecting the Central African Republic are Hepatitis A and E, typhoid fever, malaria and dengue fever. In the latest report index, the Central African Republic is ranked 185 out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index, with only the Congo and Niger coming after.
Contributing to the poor healthcare is the bleak economic prospects of the country with 7.60% of the country remaining unemployed and a large portion of the country relying on foreign aid. Many of the diseases that are affecting the country are ranked in the top 10 among the fatalities around the world, including, Malnutrition which is ranked 1st, , Diarrheal diseases, 1st, Anemia 7th, Tetanus, 9th and Rheumatic Heart Disease,10th.
“Malaria is the main cause of death here, but it could be treated very easily if it were caught on time” Mr. de- Barros-Duchene continued. “The problem is that when patients especially children arrive they are already in a critical state and require hospitalization”.
Central Africa has had a long struggle with democracy and the electoral process as there have been many violent coup attempts including the last one in March 2013 when rebels overthrew the president and installed their own leader. The Coup led the UN security chief to label the situation a “total breakdown of law and order.”
The rebels led by the Seleka are a Muslim group who targeted Christians throughout the country leading to Christians attacking Muslims in reprisals.
“We must prevent the Central African Republic from becoming a forgotten crisis” Claire Bourgeois (the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator) said regarding the crisis. An estimated 6,000 people have been killed in the country since the violence erupted in 2013. Diarrheal disease rank number one in the country’s rank of disease death with 12.1%, Malaria coming in 2nd with 12.1% and HIV/ Aids coming in third with 11.7%.
The current government is under the rule of the leader of the rebel group, Michel Djotodia whose presidency is not recognized by international monitors. Many features that come with a dictator have followed Djotodia including suspending the constitution as soon as he got into office.
Contributing also to the rising fatalities are the numerous fatalities that come with a country in a civil war, including shootings and stabbings.
“There were a lot of people wounded by bullets, we almost forgot the other illnesses” Dr. Goody said.
In the end it patriotic for Dr. Goody to stay and help the desperately faltering healthcare system, however there comes a time where citizens of the country must come together and try and put aside differences and come together to improve the overall condition in a country where conditions have been stagnant for decades.
Links to sources:
- Reuters Link: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-centralafrican-violence-children-idUSKCN0ZG005?il=0
- Central African Republic Disease Index: https://www.indexmundi.com/central_african_republic/major_infectious_diseases.html
- The Guardian Link: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/may/03/central-african-republic-chronic-healthcare-crisis-malaria-msf
- WHO Profile for Central African Republic: https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/hdr/2014-human-development-report.html
- BBC Central African Republic Profile: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13150044
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