An ALLIANCE culture to safeguard Africa's forests

Solution
A high-quality basic infrastructure
ensures unimpeded access
to health care. People from all social
backgrounds are welcome at the
company's medical centre. Company
protocol allows vulnerable groups to
use medical services free of charge.
The healthcare situation is
at the heart of a country's
social and economic
development issues. The
WHO Global Health Workforce
Alliance reports that the
Republic of the Congo has a low density of
health workers: 0.28 doctors and 1.91 nurses
and midwives per 10,000 inhabitants. Rural
areas in the north of the country have the
fewest health workers, especially doctors
(between 1.1% and 2.6%). The geographical
distribution of these healthcare professionals
is uneven: 66% of doctors, 42% of paramedical
staff and 28% of hospital beds are located
in Brazzaville, which is home to 37% of the
population 37 .
Malaria remains the leading reason for
consultation and hospitalisation of children
in the Congo, where the disease kills around
21,000 children under the age of five every
year 38 . Although the statistics are incomplete,
an analysis 39 by the London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine 40 on behalf of the WHO
estimates that substandard and counterfeit
antimalarial drugs could cause an additional
116,000 deaths each year. Scientists suggest
that poor quality medicines contribute
significantly to mortality rates in children
under five. The Congo is dependent on foreign
countries for medicines. While the proliferation
of substandard or falsified 41 medical products
is a very lucrative market worldwide, 42% of
reports come from sub-Saharan Africa, 21% from
the Americas and 21% from the European region.
In order to tackle this phenomenon, INTERHOLCO
is diversifying its procurement of medicines
through a process of due diligence. INTERHOLCO
gives preference to suppliers both within the
Republic of the Congo and internationally,
and also to those used by reputable NGOs,
international donors and even the WHO.
The Medical and Social Centre (CMS) managed
by INTERHOLCO, located in the village of
Ngombé, aims to ensure access to essential
health services for the entire local population,
particularly the 10,000 inhabitants of the village
and the 6,000 inhabitants of the forest, including
indigenous people. The CMS is led by a medical
surgeon trained at the Faculty of Health Sciences
in Brazzaville.
There are more than twenty qualified members
of staff at the CMS. The CMS provides healthcare
services directly to the residents of Ngombé as
well as the inhabitants of the Ngombé forest,
including indigenous peoples, who enjoy free
access to care. By way of comparison, in Ngombé
there is also a state-built Integrated Health
Centre (CSI), which lacks access to water and
electricity. In 2019, the CSI was headed by a nurse
assisted by three people.
The volunteers of the Ewawa Association,
which was set up by IFO employees, intervene
with financial assistance to support people in
distress.
The Medical and Social Centre (CMS),
managed by INTERHOLCO
and situated in the village of Ngombé,
aims to ensure access for the local
population as a whole, in particular for the
residents of the village and the
inhabitants of the forest,
including indigenous peoples,
to essential health services.
37
https://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/images/ORIA/CP/congo.pdf
38
J.E., Moboula, Impact des dépenses de santé sur le paludisme de l’enfant de moins de cinq ans et la mortalité infanto-juvénile, in Population,
santé et développement au Congo, L’Harmattan, 2014
39
Study on the Socio-Economic and Public Health Impact of Substandard and Falsified Medical Products', World Health Organization
2018: https://www.who.int/medicines/regulation/ssffc/publications/SE-Study_FR.pdf
40
https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research
41
Since 2017, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has abandoned the term "counterfeit", which is largely linked to the concept of intellectual
property rights, in favour of the term " inferior or falsified medical product", which is better suited to public health issues.
In 2019, the CMS admitted more than 12,500 patients.
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