Panzi Hospital

Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, the capital of the Sud-Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It specializes in treating survivors of violence, the large majority of whom have been sexually abused. After years of military rape in South Kivu, there is increased civilian adoption of sexual violence.[1]

See also: Panzi (disambiguation)
Panzi Hospital
Geography
LocationBukavu, Sud-Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Coordinates2.543149°S 28.867902°E / -2.543149; 28.867902
Organisation
TypeSpecialist
Services
SpecialityTreatment of survivors of violence
History
Opened1999
Links
Websitewww.panzihospitalbukavu.org

History

The Panzi Hospital was founded in 1999 by Communauté des Eglises de Pentecôte en Afrique Centrale (CEPAC, the Pentecostal Churches in Central Africa), itself founded by the Swedish Pentecostal Mission in 1921. [2] Director Denis Mukwege has been operating on survivors of sexual violence for over a decade, and is one of only two doctors qualified to perform the reconstructive surgery.[3] He published an analysis[4] of the sexual violence crisis in eastern DRC in PLoS Medicine in Dec. 2009, based on his extensive, first-hand experience. Dr. Mukwege is the recipient of the UN 2008 Human Rights Award, the 2014 Sakharov Prize,[5] and the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.

Despite its support network[6] and the overwhelming need for the services it provides, the Panzi Hospital continually faces a shortage of money, supplies, and resources to expand its base of qualified personnel. The hospital was initially built for 120 beds but the total number of beds is now 350, out of which 200 are devoted to sexual violence survivors. On average, Panzi admits 410 patients per month and is currently running at maximum capacity.[7][8]

See also

References
  1. ""Now, The World Is Without Me": An Investigation of Sexual Violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo" (PDF). Harvard Humanitarian Initiative With Support from Oxfam America. April 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2011-12-11. After years of military rape in South Kivu, civilian adoption of sexual violence is becoming recognized as its own problem.
  2. "General Referral Panzi Hospital: About". Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2020-07-15. The General Referral Panzi Hospital ...built in 1999
  3. Stephanie Nolen (Spring 2005). ""Not Women Anymore…": The Congo's rape survivors face pain, shame and AIDS". Ms. Archived from the original on 2016-10-31. Retrieved 2011-12-04. It took Thérèse Mwandeko a year to save the money...She walked with balled-up fabric clenched between her thighs, to soak up blood that had been oozing from her vagina for two years, since she had been gang-raped by Rwandan militia soldiers who plundered her village in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Finally, she arrived at Panzi Hospital...Dr. Denis Mukwege, Panzi’s sole gynecologist and one of two doctors in the eastern Congo who can perform such reconstructive surgeries, can repair only five women a week.
  4. "Plosmedicine.org". Archived from the original on 2010-04-14. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
  5. "OHCHR.org". Archived from the original on 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
  6. "Where We Help: Democratic Republic of Congo". Archived from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2020-07-15. The Fistula Foundation is choosing to target its support for the Congo in light of the dramatic need for treatment and also to offer a glimmer of hope to the nation’s women (through) Panzi Hospital in Bukavo, the capital city of the country's South Kivu Province
  7. Koinange, Jeff .. (2006-05-26). "Rape, brutality ignored to aid Congo peace". CNN.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
  8. Gettleman, Jeffrey (2007-10-07). "Rape Epidemic Raises Trauma of Congo War". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-10-13. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
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