In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the figures are alarming…. 42% of AIDS patients admitted to Lubumbashi provincial hospital die for lack of money for treatment.
These statistics were presented at the Journées Scientifiques, organized jointly by the Institut Supérieur des Techniques Médicales de Lubumbashi and the M’siri Technical University. They ended on Saturday August 21 in Bunkeya, 192 km from Lubumbashi.
In the DRC, AIDS sufferers only receive free antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). For other infections, they have to bear the cost of care themselves, but most of them can’t because they don’t have the money, and health insurance doesn’t exist.
This is the case of Jessica, 23, whom we met in Lubumbashi a few days ago. Suffering from AIDS, she also had to seek treatment after an unsuccessful appendix operation : ” Two weeks after the operation, the wound reopened. Subsequently, part of the intestine ended up outside. I need a bandage and a medical powder. I have no money to buy them. “A situation that leads some patients to death.
