France and Democratic Republic of Congo health Partnership came up to the signing of a Convention Project PROMEKIN II

The state of the health system is a major concern in the DRC. Infant and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world, mainly due to the degradation of health services, limited financial resources of households and dysfunctions within hospitals (dilapidated infrastructure, lack of equipment and personnel.

The French Development Agency and the French operator CREDES associated with Médecins du Monde have signed a funding agreement this Friday, May 15, 2020 for the Mother Child Health Program in peripheral urban areas from Kinshasa. 

The French Ambassador to the DRC, François Pujolas welcomed this convention which according to him illustrates exemplary Franco-Congolese partnership on health issues and is fully part of the roadmap on the fight against epidemics adopted last November in Paris, during the meeting between the Presidents Tshisekedi and Macron.

This project fully contributes to the strategic axes of French aid for the DRC, reaffirmed by the joint France-DRC declaration concluded during Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian's visit to Kinshasa in May 2019. 

He is also part of the joint health initiative recently taken by France to help countries

partners to deal with the occurrence of coronavirus.

The project is funded through a 17 million euro grant from AFD, of which two million euro is devoted to the health response to COVID-19 through support provided to Monkole Hospital and to the hospital platform which provides networked around thirty hospitals.

The general objective of the project is to contribute to the reduction of mortality and morbidity of the population in the area urban poor in two peripheral districts of the city of Kinshasa (Kingasani and Binza health zone Météo), by strengthening inter-establishment collaborations, the quality and availability of prevention and maternal and infant care offered in the mother-child reference center, as well as their accessibility.

The project will revolve around three operational lines of intervention as follow : Increasing the availability of a quality care offer in private non-profit participating structures public service; Improving the accessibility of populations to a quality care offer and to prevention activities and promotion of reproductive health in particular; Strengthening learning, training exchanges and know-how between establishments and

professionals.

The Ambassador of France, François Pujolas, stressed that "due to the global health crisis linked to the COVID-19 epidemic and its developments in the DRC, especially in Kinshasa, this intervention brings a complementary component to constitute an emergency response which is part of the National Plan for Response made by the Congolese authorities ”.

The AFD thus responded to the request from the partners of this project (CREDES and Médecins du Monde), the establishments hospitals in two health zones in the city of Kinshasa (Kingasani and Binza Météo), the Center Hospitalier de Monkole and the hospital platform.

France's action is consistent with that of the European Union, of which it is one of the main contributors, and from other member states. 

The Europe team provides first-rate support to the efforts undertaken in

DRC to deal with the Covid19 pandemic.

Cassien Tribunal Aungane, Editor