Our Why:
1.
Poor Population Health
DRC ranks 175 out of 189 countries in its Human Development Index. Life expectancy is 60 years. DRC has among the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world. DRC faces the most deadly conflict the world has seen since World War II, with 5.4 million excess deaths due to war between 1998-2007, and the toll continues to rise.
Decades of war, political instability, and economic restrictions have eroded public health infrastructure, and left hospitals isolated, overburdened, and under equipped. The eastern part of the country is an epicenter for one of the world’s most complex humanitarian emergencies. We surveyed households in the city of Bukavu and found that people would like better access to high quality health services.
Although people in Congo may have to survive in dismal conditions, we aspire to have better quality health and public health services, so that we can live longer and healthier lives.
43%
of children in DRC are malnourished
73%
of Congolese live on less than $1.90 per day
10%
of children born in DRC will not live to see their 5th birthday
2.
Inadequate sanitation services
DRC loses US$208 million each year due to poor sanitation. The city of Bukavu, with a population of about 1 million people, is facing a sanitation crisis. There is no part of the city which is immune to piles of garbage on the streets. Garbage clogs drainage ditches resulting in water stagnation and flooding, which contributes to malaria and deaths from injuries in floods. We conducted a survey of 500 households in Bukavu in 2019, and found that people reported environmental hygiene and sanitation as a top priority for their health.
3.
Doctors are unemployed.
Dr. N’Simbo conducted a survey as part of his Master’s research at the University of Washington, of nearly 600 medical doctors trained in DRC over a ten year period. He found that an astounding 45% of them were unemployed, and 5% had changed careers, and only 50% were currently employed as physicians. Most physicians spent 2 years unemployed after training before finding work. He decided to act to find a way to connect patients who desire better health services with doctors who are available to treat them.
Physician Employment in DRC (Percentage)
Ineffective efforts to date.
DRC has been plunged in a humanitarian crisis which has been ongoing for decades. International organizations and UN agencies are omnipresent. When Dr. Ali N’Simbo, founder of WA-Kongo 1st Mile Health, grew up in a mining town in Eastern DRC, there was no available sanitation services, medical services, or drinking water in the city for Congolese who were not direct employees of an international mining company. Decades later, the situation is unchanged, despite billions of dollars in international aid and efforts of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations. We believe it is time for a change in the way humanitarian health projects are conceived, designed, implemented, and evaluated.
Moved to action
Drs. Ali N’Simbo and Lucy Doyle, together with their three young children, decided it was time to act, and they relocated from Seattle, USA to Bukavu, DRC, to respond to the health crisis in Eastern DRC that Dr. N’Simbo left seven years earlier. They are driven to make an impact along with the community, and integrating public health and medical services, for the entire next generation.