Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was one of the first sub-Saharan African countries to recognize HIV/AIDS when its first cases were registered in 1983. Presently, the country has a generalized epidemic, though data from surveillance studies show cases are concentrated among most-at-risk populations in numerous hotspots across the country. The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS estimated there were between 400,000 and 500,000 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and 1.3 percent prevalence among adults at the end of 2007; recent studies suggest prevalence may be increasing. Despite an abundance of natural resources, the DRC remains mired in poverty. Health indicators are among the worst in the world and reflect the hardships resulting from the protracted conflict and the corresponding deterioration of health services throughout the country. Consequently, the health sector’s ability to respond to the needs of the citizens of the DRC has declined significantly over the past decades. It is estimated 70 percent of the population has little or no access to health care, including HIV/AIDS services.
Since the 1980s, the U.S. Government has worked with the DRC Ministry of Health to develop HIV/AIDS programming. USAID currently supports activities that contribute to the reduction of HIV prevalence while increasing access to quality HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support. USAID supports HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care activities in the high-prevalence areas of Kinshasa, Matadi, Lubumbashi, and Bukavu, as well as 57 health zones through the Primary Health Care program. USAID uses a comprehensive continuum-of-care approach that includes:
- behavior change communication and condom social marketing targeting high-risk populations, including truckers, commercial sex workers, police, military, miners, and youth;
- HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), including integrated VCT with family planning and tuberculosis services in community, standalone, and mobile sites; and
- prevention of mother-to-child transmission, safe blood transfusion, and care and support, including home-based care and support to PLWHA and orphans and vulnerable children, as well as systems strengthening.
View the full USAID HIV/AIDS Country Profile for the Democratic Republic of Congo - September 2010 [PDF, 148KB].
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