Torrential downpours and subsequent mudslides in the crowded capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa, earlier this week are expected to worsen the cholera outbreak that has held the country in its grasp since January 2017.

Cholera is always linked to lack of hygiene, lack of sanitation, lack of clean water, and when there is a rainy season adding to those situations, you have the needed mix for the explosion of cholera.

Tensions began rising two years ago when President Joseph Kabila refused to step down at the end of his term. That led to clashes between local militias and national government forces. Since then, intercommunal fighting has persisted in the country’s Southwest Kasai region, North and South Kivu and eastern Tanganyika.

An estimated 1.7 million people fled their homes in DRC last year. Ongoing violence has not only blocked the limited humanitarian aid available, but is also faulted for dismantling the already fragile health, education and agricultural systems. In Kasai province, where 1.4 million people were internally displaced in 2017, more than half of the health facilities have been destroyed, looted, and medical supplies stolen.

Read the full article on the DRC cholera outbreak by Christin Roby at Devex International Development