PREGNANT women in regions torn apart by ethnic clashes are dying during delivery as conflicts make hospitals inaccessible. At least three women have died in Kabeké in the southeastern Tanganyika Province. The region is affected by long-running conflicts between the Twa and Bantu communities. About 3 000 people live in this locality.

As conflicts and banditry recur, the area has become more isolated while roads and agricultural routes have deteriorated over the years. Subsequently, in Kabeké, the only health centre lacks staff, drugs and medicines. The nearest health centre is the Kiyambi hospital, which is located 100 km from Kabeké. “In the region, the mortality rate is high.

Many women die in childbirth,” the village nurse said. She said the women succumbed to the deliveries at the time of their transfer to Kiyambi. The United Nations mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), which last week carried out a joint mission to assess the situation, raised concern at the inter-community tensions. Tensions in Kabeké mirror the raging conflicts in the Central African country where millions are displaced by violence. – CAJ News