https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58834108
There has been poor management of the covid funding that the IMF gave Congo last year. Only $6m of the $363m Covid funding provided by the IMF has been publicly accounted for.
DR Congo is one of the 50 countries across the globe that has failed to fully vaccinate 10% of their population [ this is a target that was set up by the World Health Organization (WHO)].
Some estimates suggest that 0.1% of the country's 89 million people have been vaccinated. According to WHO, more than 57,000 people are known to have contracted the virus and 1,086 of them have died.
Some of the challenges include the country's heavy reliance on the Covax Scheme*, an underfunded health system that is already wrecked by concurrent outbreaks of measles, Ebola, and cholera, mistrust in authorities, and conflict between the government and armed groups in the eastern region of the country.
The country is plagued by corruption and this is not the first time that funds have disappeared.
At least $240,000 went missing in the purchase of ambulances and vehicles for the health ministry's covid response.
Two former health ministers have been arrested over corruption allegations in recent years - one is currently serving a 5-year jail sentence, and the other is free on bail and denies the allegations.
Researchers say that the health ministry has used emergency situations and international funding "to pay bonuses to staff who are not normally well paid". The report says that the health ministry declined to reveal how many staff it paid or how much was paid in bonuses.
*Covax scheme was created last year to ensure that covid vaccines are made available globally, with rich countries subsidizing costs for poorer nations. The scheme hopes to distribute enough vaccines to protect at least 20% of the population in low-medium income countries - starting with healthcare workers and the most vulnerable groups. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-55795297)
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