In the Democratic Republic of Congo, malaria is a very worrying public health problem. 97% of the population is affected by this endemic and deadly disease. And our surrounding communities are not spared by this alarming situation.
How to explain a disease that has already reached an endemic level can always be more expensive for a certain class of the population to be taken care of? despite preventive measures such as the distribution of impregnated mosquito nets, malaria remains deadly in many surrounding communities because appropriate care is expensive for a low-income category of the population.
According to national estimates, only 30% of the population lives within five kilometers of the nearest health facility. Therefore, the approach taken has been to focus on establishing community care sites to address these gaps in malaria service delivery. Across the DRC, an estimated 18,350 community care sites are needed for a full scale-up of the campaign. Currently, only about 38% of these sites (6,968 sites) have been set up. In addition to this situation of insufficient community care sites, the expenses incurred in case of malaria treatment pose another headache for the low income class of the population. For example here in Lubumbashi, in the south-eastern city of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where we are in the process of carrying out this survey, all the care necessary for the treatment of malaria can reach around 80 US dollars for a malaria patient. it is only an expense made for one person. Assess now if two or three people in this family have malaria...
With this, we have the empathy to establish a non-profit community health center to reduce the cost of medical care and treatment for malaria as a priority. For now, we are going through African's online social incubation program where we gain more information as we go through the definitions of social entrepreneurship and design thinking. we present this project on the forum in order to have more additional ideas.