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Democratic Republic of Congo: Whether the International Committee of the Red Cross had the capacity to provide dialysis treatment with portable dialysis machines at the Goma Detention Centre in the Democratic Republic of Congo (July-August 2006)

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 1978 and has a sub-delegation in Goma (ICRC 8 Aug. 2007). A Geneva-based ICRC spokesperson who is responsible for communicating information related to the Horn of Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa provided the following information in correspondence with the Research Directorate:

The ICRC did not have [the capacity] and has no capacity today, to provide treatment with a portable dialysis machine at the detention centre in Goma.

However, we would like to stress that the ICRC has certainly intervened, in the frame of its confidential dialogue with the detaining authorities, in order to allow/facilitate access to such a treatment, if essential for the good health of a person detained and visited by the ICRC. Other actors in Goma (Hôpital de Référence or other health care centers) are in a position to deliver such services. (28 Sept. 2007)

However, a 20 July 2006 letter from the British Embassy in Kinshasa, cited in an October 2006 United Kingdom (UK) Home Office report, states that "'kidney dialysis is not available in the DRC" and that [m]ost patients who need this treatment (if they can afford it) go to South Africa'" (27 Oct. 2006, 173). Similarly, the Director, Health and Policy, of Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin) – a registered charity in the UK that provides "health care and medical relief for vulnerable people caught up in natural disasters, conflict, disease and health system collapse" (Merlin n.d.) – provided the following information in correspondence with the Research Directorate:

To the best of my knowledge, none of the health centres and hospitals in or immediately around Goma currently has the capacity to provide renal dialysis treatment and have not been able to do so since 1997 which is when I first came into contact with the health service there. The lack of renal dialysis capacity (both peritoneal and haemodialysis) is due to lack of equipment, financial resources and insufficient numbers of skilled staff to initiate and monitor treatment should the equipment be available. (8 Oct. 2007)

The Director further stated that she is unfamiliar with the facilities that may have been available in the context of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but added that if the mission had access to dialysis treatment, it "would not be available to Congolese patients" (8 Oct. 2007).

A Congolese medical doctor at the University of Kinshasa currently completing a doctorate in nephrology at the University of Liège in Belgium, further stated that there is only one renal unit in the DRC (Doctor 10 Oct. 2007). He stated that this unit is located in Kinshasa, which, he said, is approximately 2,000 km from Goma (ibid.). The Doctor provided the following additional information in 10 October 2007 correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Renal replacement treatment available in the Kinshasa renal unit is limited to peritoneal dialysis, however haemodialysis recently became available through a private clinic. It costs about 3,000 US dollars per month for peritoneal dialysis and 4,500 dollars per month for haemodialysis. The Doctor also noted that there are no nephrologists in Goma and that it is not possible to treat acute or chronic renal failure by renal replacement treatment in Goma.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). 8 August 2007. "The ICRC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo." <http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/congo_kinshasa?OpenDocument> [Accessed 27 Sept. 2007]
_____. 28 September 2007. Correspondence with a representative, Horn, Central, Southern Africa.

Doctor of Medicine, University of Kinshasa. 10 October 2007. Correspondence.

Director, Health and Policy, Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin), London. 8 October 2007. Correspondence.

Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin). N.d. "About us." <http://www.merlin.org.uk/About-us/Our-Mission.aspx> [Accessed 9 Oct. 2007]

United Kingdom (UK). 27 October 2006. Home Office. Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), Country of Origin Information Service. Country of Origin Information Report: Democratic Republic of Congo. <http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/4565763b2.pdf> [Accessed 28 Sept. 2007]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: a representative of Médecins sans frontières was unable to respond during the time constraints of this Response.

Publications, including: Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation.

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International, Médecins sans frontières (MSF), International Rescue Committee.

Topics: Health care,