By Badylon Kawanda Bakiman
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in the heart of Central Africa, is currently shaken by a cholera epidemic. 17 of the country’s 26 provinces are already under attack. In the first half of 2025, the country has already recorded 33,864 cases, including 757 deaths.
Roger Kamba, Minister of Health, gave this information at a press briefing held on Thursday July 10 in the capital Kinshasa, while drawing an alarming picture of the health situation in the country in the 27th week of surveillance.
He said that of the 17 provinces affected, Tshopo was the most severely affected, followed by Sud-Kivu and Kinshasa, where an average of 130 cases per week were recorded.
To deal with the situation, three cholera treatment centers were already operating in Kinshasa. Two more were opened on Thursday, and eight more are expected to follow shortly. Minister Kamba reassures us that the government and the Institut National de Santé Publique (INSP) are mobilized, with a contingency plan already in place.
In Kinshasa, cases have been reported in 25 of the 35 health zones. Three treatment facilities have been operational for several days in this part of the country.
“We have enough treatment for everyone”, reassures the Minister of Health. Roger Kamba urges people with symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhoea to get tested and treated.
The Minister reminded the audience that hygiene is vital in the fight against the spread of this epidemic. He also promised that drinking water cisterns would be made available to residents of the worst-affected districts of the capital by the state services.
This epidemic comes on the heels of the 2022 epidemic, which was officially declared by the governor of North Kivu province, following the isolation of Vibrio cholerae from 140 of the 247 samples taken from suspected cases in the Nyiragongo health zone.
In 2023, a total of 4,386 cases of cholera (including 1,009 laboratory-confirmed cases) with 16 deaths (case-fatality rate of 0.4%) were still reported in North Kivu.
