Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo ---

Kinshasa is a teeming city of over 7 million souls, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Flying into the airport at night, the lights of the city stretch in all directions, and then reach a point where they disappear completely in the surrounding darkness of the countryside.

The airport is a lively place, totally unlike anything the traveller will experience in other parts of the world. It is difficult to tell who the arriving passengers are from the people who have come to greet them in the swamped arrival area, where there are happy reunions of people everywhere.

But miraculously, all this sorts itself out eventually if one remains calm
and patient. The 50 km ride into the city is on a road with many mini-van taxis overflowing with people. There are kilometer after kilometer of roadside food stalls lit by candles and oil lamps. The stalls have no lack of customers.

The hustle and bustle of the oil lamp road soon gives way to the first traffic jams on the outskirts of the city. Eventually, there is an almost bewildering collection of monuments and official buildings mixed in between an increasing number of apartment buildings with laundry hanging nonchalantly from windows and balconies.

The center of Kinshasa is situated not far from the Congo River, across which lies the city of Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. Kinshasa's domain stretches across the heart of Africa, a collection of provinces that embrace a colorful variety of tribal cultures and peoples.... from the sophisticated French speaking population in the west to the deep-forest pygmy villages in the eastern reaches of the country.

The Congo is an exciting, stimulating country that never stops surprising the visitor with its assault on all the senses and nerve endings. Like the Amazon, the Congo is often referred to here as the "lungs" of the African continent, because of its vast rain forests that filter the carbon dioxide of its own cities' emissions and those of the surrounding countries.

Health wise, the country faces many challenges. After years of inner turmoil and war, the country is beginning to put together a comprehensive health system led by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Kinshasa, with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Major illnesses throughout the country include malaria and tuberculosis with a decreasing, but still worrying continuance of leprosy in some eastern border provinces. Last year there were about 600 new leprosy cases reported in that area, but with a timely MDT (multi-drug treatment) response, they were quickly eliminated.

David Tharp, on location in the DRC

The WHO and MoH are maintaining a careful monitoring program in these border provinces to insure that new cases of leprosy are reported early and that quick treatment is provided. If the current rate of discovery and treatment is continued, there is a hope that the disease may be eliminated in these remaining provinces in the next few years. If this occurs, according to present health plans, then the possibility of total eradication may be within reach.(See below.)

This is the strongly sought target of the MoH, WHO, and organizations such as The Nippon Foundation, which have poured many resources into eliminating leprosy in the Congo.