CONFLICT WATCH — Eastern DR Congo · Healthcare and displacement

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says it is transferring its medical activities in Sake, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, to Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) to maintain care as it redirects resources to other emergencies.

The announcement, dated October 13 on MSF’s country website and reported by ACTUALITE.CD on October 15, comes alongside a separate warning from a Walikale health worker about displaced families lacking clean water, food and medicines.

Sake: a handover intended to preserve care

MSF said it was supplying medical and logistical equipment and medical supplies to Sake’s referral health centre to support the transition. It identified Katoyi among the areas toward which it was redirecting resources.

The organization said insecurity, difficulty reaching farmland and damage to health infrastructure had complicated life for families seeking refuge in Sake. Its country coordinator, Christine Januel, described the reassignment as an effort to prioritize emergencies where available assistance remained inadequate.

The announcement does not provide an exact handover-completion date. It describes continuity through another organization, not the closure of all healthcare in Sake or a finding that local needs have ended.

Walikale: a separate warning about basic needs

Kivu Morning Post reported an October 15 appeal by Katabana Monde, the nurse heading Matutira health centre, which has relocated to Lulambo in the Itebero health zone. He described shortages affecting displaced families in Waloa Loanda, in Walikale territory.

The report identifies families who fled Ziralo in South Kivu and Ufamandu 1 in North Kivu. According to the nurse, inadequate shelter, water and sanitation, together with shortages of food, medicines and medical equipment, were increasing health risks.

He warned about cholera, malaria and measles and called for medical and humanitarian assistance. The report also mentions suspected malnutrition, but says the number of affected displaced households is not known.

This is an attributed local warning, not confirmation of a cholera or measles outbreak in those communities. TNC has not independently examined patients or verified the settlement’s disease burden.

Why food and healthcare cannot be separated

In an earlier October 5 assessment, MSF described how conflict in North Kivu cut families off from fields and income while insecurity disrupted deliveries and increased prices. It reported treating more than 33,000 patients for malnutrition in North Kivu between January and August 2026.

That figure covers the province and an earlier reporting period. It is not an October count, a prevalence estimate, or a tally for Waloa Loanda alone. The broader assessment supports concern about access to food and treatment, but cannot establish every condition described in the local report.

How this report was checked

TNC compared MSF’s handover announcement with ACTUALITE.CD’s reporting. Both reflect MSF’s account of the transition; they are not independent audits of the receiving service. Kivu Morning Post’s Walikale report concerns a different location and supplies a separately attributed local perspective.

This article uses published reporting and humanitarian statements, not original TNC interviews or a visit to either community. Sake, Katoyi and Waloa Loanda should not be treated as a single settlement or their needs combined into an invented total.

Sources and reporting dates

Cover: approved AI-generated atmospheric editorial illustration of eastern DR Congo. It is not a photograph of Sake, Katoyi or Waloa Loanda, a depiction of present conditions, or evidence of a particular incident.