Geneva: Conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has “multiplied” the risk of the spread of diseases, including cholera, malaria, tuberculosis and the deadly mpox virus, the World Health Organization warned on Friday.
Fighting between Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces has exacerbated an already “dire situation” for millions of people, Dr Boureima Hama Sambo, WHO representative for the DRC told reporters in Geneva via video link from the capital Kinshasa.
The WHO reported 600 suspected cholera cases and 14 deaths in the last month in North Kivu province, where disrupted water supplies have heightened the risk of the spread of the disease.
The fighting has also affected the WHO’s vaccine rollout…