The people of the Central African Republic (CAR) are trapped in crisis. Over a period of 18 months, Doctors Without Borders conducted four mortality studies, and in areas where more than half the people reside, death rates were several times what is considered to be the emergency threshold by the World Health Organization. The country’s health system has broken down, and life expectancy is only 48 years old, one of the lowest in the world.
Men, women, and children are suffering and dying from malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, sleeping sickness, and other treatable and preventable diseases. Violent conflict between government and rebel forces, especially in prefectures located on the border, has displaced entire villages. These dire conditions are made all the worse because the nation’s phantom health care system is unable to make even the barest minimum of quality care available and accessible to people in need.
