Adolphe Mukadi Bitema
International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, Switzerland
Adolphe Mukadi Bitema, Detention Doctor
Detention Doctor, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, Switzerland
adolphebitema@yahoo.com
I am a medical practitioner from D.R. Congo with 20 years post qualifying experience. For the past 10 years, I have been working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), mainly in the places of detention. My role has been providing both preventive and curative care. I assess the functioning of the health system at the national level and in the places of detention, then discuss the findings with the persons responsible at different levels, and propose solutions, in order to improve the health of prisoners in a broad sense (nutrition, water / hygiene / sanitation, access to medical services), to ensure that the material and human needs are put in place to meet the national health standards.
I provide technical support through a proactive approach to the Health Service in the places of detention in the following areas:
- Nutrition: Strengthen the implementation of programs to fight acute malnutrition (severe and moderate).
- Health system: to strengthen the health care delivery at the central and local levels.
- Public health: Strengthen the implementation of national health programs on TB, malaria, HIV / AIDS and Parasitic diseases (Bilharzias, plague, etc.) through mobilization of health stakeholders.
- Access to health care outside the prisons’ premises: Facilitate collaboration between the two ministries (MOH and MIN JUS), to involve the MOH in the medical care of inmates, mostly in the supervision and training of the health staff working in the places of detention.
Prior to working for the ICRC; I worked in for 12 years in a district hospital in the Republic of Zambia. My role was both: Preventive and Curative. Working in a district hospital, with shortage of doctors, I had to attend to different types of patients, with different kinds of problems. I was in charge of Mother Child Health (MCH), dealing with pre and post-natal consultations, including family planning. And the same activities were done during outreaching programs.
My other responsibilities included pre and post counseling activities, supervision and coordination of home based care visits of HIV patients, prescribing the antiretroviral therapy, monitoring patients on medication, recording treatment outcome, management of other HIV related diseases and integrated system of HIV/AIDS and TB care, including Protection of Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV/AIDS.
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