Panzi Hospital

See also: Panzi (disambiguation)

Panzi Hospital and Foundation Hôpital Panzi
Geography
Location	Bukavu, Sud-Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Coordinates	2.543149°S 28.867902°E / -2.543149; 28.867902
Organisation
Type	Specialist
Religious affiliation	Community of Pentecostal Churches in Central Africa
Services
Speciality	Treatment of survivors of violence
History
Opened	1999
Links
Website	www.panzihospitalbukavu.org

Panzi Hospital and Foundation (French: Hôpital et Fondation de Panzi) is a hospital in Bukavu, the capital of the Sud-Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It specializes in treating survivors of sexual violence, particularly conflict-related sexual violence.

History

The Panzi Hospital was founded in 1999 by Dr. Denis Mukwege with the support of the Community of Pentecostal Churches in Central Africa (CEPAC), itself founded by the Swedish Pentecostal Mission in 1921.^[1] 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.^[2] He published an analysis^[3] of the sexual violence crisis in eastern DRC in PLoS Medicine in December 2009, based on his extensive, first-hand experience. Dr. Mukwege is the recipient of the UN 2008 Human Rights Award, the 2014 Sakharov Prize,^[4] and the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.

Despite its support network^[5] 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 in 2007 it was said to be running at maximum capacity.^[6][7]

Dr Denis Mukwege went out to help open the Kamagema bridge.

In August 2021 the UN force MONUSCO completed the rebuilding of the Kamagema Bridge in the Panzi area of Bukavu. The bridge had been destroyed by rebel forces. Dr Denis Mukwege went out to help open the bridge.^[8]

See also

• Social Aid For the Elimination of Rape (SAFER)

References

1. Olivier le Bussy, L’hôpital de Panzi n’en a pas fini de réparer les corps meurtris des femmes, lalibre.be, March 28, 2022
2. 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.
3. "Plosmedicine.org". Archived from the original on 2010-04-14. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
4. "OHCHR.org". Archived from the original on 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
5. "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
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Photos, MONUSCO (2021-08-05), QIP pont Kamagema a Panzi, retrieved 2021-09-15