Malaria is one of the leading causes of death among children under five in the Democratic Republic of Congo. What makes the situation worse – corruption.

A short thread.

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According to medical data collected by @RAIDukorg from the Kolwezi Health Zone, malaria is the most reported disease and among the deadliest.

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This corroborates information released by @WHO's 2018 World Malaria Report showing that #DRC is the second-leading country in the world for malaria cases after Nigeria, accounting for 11% of worldwide cases and 435,000 deaths from malaria in 2017 alone.

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In late 2018 the North Kivu Province experienced a spike in #Malaria cases alongside the #Ebola outbreak, with an eight-fold increase in malaria compared to the year before.

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Despite recent improvements in malaria interventions in #DRC, transmission is high and healthcare is compromised due to insecurity, infrastructure and, of course, corruption.

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Companies can help to safeguard workers, families and local communities in the efforts to curb the spread of malaria. But when middlemen get involved, more often than not, they hinder efforts and impact existing healthcare schemes.

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As international corporations switch hands and make huge profits, malaria programmes are sometimes stopped. This is what happened at a mine in #DRC.

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When the 'DRC Corruption Scheme' was implemented, the malaria prevention programmes were curtailed, which is highly likely to have resulted in an increase in malaria cases and a subsequent increase in child mortality.

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That's why corruption remains a major obstacle in the fight to stop malaria. You can read more about this in our 'Victims of Corruption' report launched with @afrewatch earlier this year. See our summary and the key report linked here: https://www.raid-uk.org/victimsofcorruption

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