The DRC Minister of Health, Victor Makwenge Kaput, participated in a USAID-supported launch of a polio vaccination campaign in Kinshasa.

USAID/A. Mukeba

The country has made measureable progress in recent years, due to improved leadership, coordination and investments in priority health issues by the government of DRC and international partners. The country has been polio-free for four years, a major achievement given its size and the lack of infrastructure for delivering health services.

USAID’s health program, which promotes key U.S. government priorities, is the largest sector in the DRC. We provide primary health care services at 1,793 health facilities in 78 health zones, serving over 12 million people in seven provinces (Kasai Oriental, Kasai Central, Sankuru, Lomami, South Kivu, Haut Lomami, and Lualaba). We also provide assistance to 103 stand-alone malaria-supported health zones in those same provinces as well as in the Orientale and Kinshasa provinces. Our HIV/AIDS support is concentrated in 21 health zones in Kinshasa and Katanga. Our programs strengthen the DRC’s fragile health system and are critical for sustaining improvements in service delivery at the national, provincial, and local levels.

• Governance: We support Ministry of Health reforms to streamline and decentralize the public sector. We also provide technical and financial assistance for the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluations of annual operational plans at the provincial and local levels. We train communities to identify and solve health-related challenges using locally available resources.
• Supply Chain: We improve the availability of essential medicines at all levels of the health system and strengthens national health commodity supply chain systems.
• Human Resources: We increase the managerial and technical capacity of health workers and professionals at all levels. We provide scholarships and improve the academic and administrative functions of the Kinshasa School of Public Health. We also advocate for the adequate and timely payment of salaries for health care workers.
• Financing: We advocate for improved financing for health from the  government of the DRC, leveraging funds from other donors, and finding innovative financing models to improve service delivery and utilization.
• Service Delivery: We complement the Government of the DRC’s package of services in selected regions and promote the health of vulnerable groups -- women, girls, newborns, and children under 5 -- while reducing the prevalence of diseases such as malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS.