Malaria, HIV and TB in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Epidemiology, Disease Control Challenges and Interventions

Abstract

Malaria, human immune deficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) are leading causes of death and public health threat to millions in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC is the second most malaria affected sub-Saharan African country after Nigeria, with malaria being the leading cause of death in children under 5 years (Lechthaler et al., 2019). The HIV prevalence in the country in the adult population stands at 1%, with extensive variations by region (UNAIDS, 2021c). The DRC is considered a high burden country for TB and HIV infection (Linguissi et al., 2017). This rapid review emphasizes significant elements of the epidemiology of malaria, HIV, and TB in DRC, as well as limitations in prevention, detection, and treatment, and examines a few interventions that aim to address these limitations. Evidence utilised is a mixture of the most recent grey literature NGO (programme reports and related documents) literature supplemented by peer reviewed academic literature from the past five years and national survey data when available. Although the clinical disease aspects of malaria, HIV and TB are well-researched there is less research available on socio-demographic variation, disease control challenges and interventions targeting these in the DRC.

This is part of a series of reports looking into Epidemiology of Malaria, human immune deficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) across a set of African Nations.