For the residents of Itebero, a remote northeastern village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, receiving medical attention is not an easy matter. The closest hospital is located 50 kilometers from the village, which, in an area almost impossible to access by road, translates into a journey of up to ten hours for a healthy person.

To improve access to medical care for the population of Itebero and its neighboring villages, RESCATE has begun this year to build a health center which, when finished, will serve 120,000 people throughout the district.

Last year, presidential elections were celebrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is hoped that these elections will provide an important opportunity to achieve a lasting peace in the country, after many years of armed conflicts that provoked the destabilization of the entire region. The country now faces the challenges of rebuilding the infrastructure that was widely destroyed during the war, and of resolving a severe economic crisis.

In order to support this process and contribute to improving the living conditions of the local population, RESCATE has begun constructing this year a health center in North Kivu, one of the regions most battered by the conflict.

More specifically, the project is located in Itebero, a remote village at a great distance from major towns. The only hospital in the area is 50 kilometers from the village, and in a district that is almost impossible to access by road, this translates into a journey of up to ten hours for a healthy person. In the district of Bakano, in which Itebero is located, there are other villages from which the trip to the hospital could take up to two days.

As a result, health conditions that are relatively simple to resolve with basic care have the potential to turn into life-threatening problems for the Itebero population. Children and women are the most vulnerable victims of this situation, and the mother-infant mortality rate in the district is alarmingly high.

The new health center will house internal medicine, gynecology/maternity, surgery and pediatric units, in addition to an operating room, laboratories and a pharmacy. Once constructed, it will be equipped with the human and material resources required for its correct functioning.

The Itebero health center, which will cover the health needs of approximately 120,000 people in the Bakano district, is being built with funding from the Madrid regional government.