Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR
Congo) was one of the first African countries to
recognize HIV/AIDS, when it started registering
cases in 1983. The DR Congo faces a generalized
epidemic that appears to have reached its peak in
the 1990s, when life expectancy had dropped 9
percent. By the end of 2005, UNAIDS estimated
that 1 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in
the DR Congo, which had an adult HIV prevalence
of 3.2 percent. The main mode of HIV transmission
is heterosexual activity, which accounts for 87
percent of cases. According to the 2006 DR Congo
Antenatal Care (ANC) Surveillance Survey, HIV
prevalence is highest among men and women aged
15 to 24 and women attending antenatal clinics (3.6
percent among pregnant women aged 15 to 24
years old). HIV prevalence among antenatal clinic attendees in Kinshasa, the capital, has been relatively stable (3.8 percent in
1995 and 3.6 percent in 2006). However, in the second largest city, Lumbumbashi, the prevalence rose from 4.7 percent in
1997 to 5.4 percent in 2006. Prevalence among antenatal clinic attendees is also high in Kisangani, Matadi, and Tshikapa (4.1,
4.1, and 5.2 percent, respectively). The 2006 ANC Survey also found that HIV prevalence was the same in rural and urban
areas (4.2 percent).
Since the 1980s, the U.S. Government has worked with the DR Congo’s Ministry of Health to develop HIV/AIDS programming. USAID
currently supports activities that contribute to the reduction of HIV prevalence while increasing access to quality HIV/AIDS
prevention, care, and support. USAID-supported interventions include implementing behavior change communications
(148,145 individuals targeted with community outreach that promoted HIV/AIDS prevention through abstinence and/or being
faithful) and promoting social marketing of condoms (8,106,863 condoms distributed during 2007 in Bukavu, Lubumbashi, and
Matadi cities). USAID supported voluntary counseling and testing (43,704 individuals in 13 VCT sites during 2007) using
community, mobile, and health facility-based strategies. Strategies for prevention of mother-to-child transmission were
integrated as part of a health care package of services in the 57 USAID-supported health zones, and care and support were
provided to HIV-infected and -affected individuals (support for palliative care to 3,211 people living with HIV/AIDS in 2007).
View the USAID HIV/AIDS Country Profile for the Democratic Republic of Congo - September 2008 [PDF, 129KB].
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