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Tshimbombu TN, Shin M, Thesen T, Mesu’a Kabwa L, Blackmon K, Kashama JMKW, Jobst BC, Fontaine D, Olarinde I, Okitundu‐Luwa E‐Andjafono D. Review of epilepsy care in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Epilepsia Open 2024; 9:467-474. [PMID: 38243880 PMCID: PMC10984300 DOI: 10.1002/epi4.12904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2023] [Revised: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Epilepsy imposes a substantial burden on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These challenges encompass the lack of comprehensive disease surveillance, an unresolved understanding of its pathophysiology, economic barriers limiting access to essential care, the absence of epilepsy surgical capabilities, and deeply ingrained societal stigmas. Notably, the national prevalence of epilepsy remains undetermined, with research primarily concentrating on infectious factors like Onchocerca volvulus, leaving other potential causes underexplored. Most patients lack insurance, incurring out-of-pocket expenses that often lead them to opt for traditional medicine rather than clinical care. Social stigma, perpetuated by common misconceptions, intensifies the social isolation experienced by individuals living with epilepsy. Additionally, surgical interventions are unavailable, and the accessibility of anti-seizure medications and healthcare infrastructure remains inadequate. Effectively tackling these interrelated challenges requires a multifaceted approach, including conducting research into region-specific factors contributing to epilepsy, increasing healthcare funding, subsidizing the costs of treatment, deploying mobile tools for extensive screening, launching awareness campaigns to dispel myths and reduce stigma, and promoting collaborations between traditional healers and medical practitioners to enhance local understanding and epilepsy management. Despite the difficulties, significant progress can be achieved through sustained and compassionate efforts to understand and eliminate the barriers faced by epilepsy patients in the region. This review outlines essential steps for alleviating the epilepsy burden in the DRC. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: There are not enough resources to treat epilepsy in the DRC. PWEs struggle with stigma and the lack of money. Many of them still use traditional medicine for treatment and hold wrong beliefs about epilepsy. That is why there is a need for more resources to make the lives of PWEs better in the DRC.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Thomas Thesen
- Geisel School of Medicine at DartmouthHanoverNew HampshireUSA
| | - Luabeya Mesu’a Kabwa
- Department of Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, Center for Neuro‐Psycho‐Pathology of Mont‐Amba, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of KinshasaKinshasaDemocratic Republic of Congo
- Centre Hospitalier ValisanaBrusselsBelgium
| | - Karen Blackmon
- Department of Psychiatry and PsychologyMayo ClinicJacksonvilleFloridaUSA
| | - Jean Marie Kashama wa Kashama
- Department of Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, Center for Neuro‐Psycho‐Pathology of Mont‐Amba, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of KinshasaKinshasaDemocratic Republic of Congo
| | - Barbara C. Jobst
- Department of Neurology, Geisel School of Medicine at DartmouthDartmouth‐Hitchcock Medical CenterLebanonNew HampshireUSA
| | | | - Immanuel Olarinde
- Richmond Gabriel University College of MedicineBelairSaint Vincent and the Grenadines
| | - Daniel Okitundu‐Luwa E‐Andjafono
- Department of Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, Center for Neuro‐Psycho‐Pathology of Mont‐Amba, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of KinshasaKinshasaDemocratic Republic of Congo
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Tshimbombu TN, Kalubye AB, Hoffman C, Kanter JH, Rosseau G, Nteranya DS, Nyalundja AD, Kalala Okito JP. Review of Neurosurgery in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Historical Approach of a Local Context. World Neurosurg 2022; 167:81-88. [PMID: 35948213 DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2022.07.113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2022] [Revised: 07/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Neurosurgical practice in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is challenged by limited resources and infrastructure. The DRC has 16 local residing neurosurgeons for 95 million inhabitants, a ratio of 1 neurosurgeon per 5.9 million Congolese citizens. This is attributable to decades of political unrest and a loosely regulated health care system. Understanding the role of neurosurgery in a historical context is necessary to appreciate and overcome current challenges in the delivery of neurosurgical care. We describe past and present political, social, and economic challenges surrounding the development of neurosurgical practice and training. Highlights of early innovators, current challenges, and a suggested framework to guide future advances in neurosurgical practice are provided. Interviews with Dr. Antoine Beltchika Kalubye, the oldest living neurosurgeon in the DRC, and Dr. Jean-Pierre Kalala Okito, current president of the Congolese Society of Neurosurgery, provide a detailed account of events. Firsthand narrative was supplemented via literature review and collaboration with registrars in the DRC to review current neurosurgery programs. Our discussions revealed that decades of political unrest and inconsistent management of health care resources are responsible for the current state of healthcare, including the dearth of local neurosurgeons. The neurosurgery workforce deficit in the DRC remains substantial. It is essential to understand local neurosurgical history, in its present state and breadth of challenges, to inform future development of neurosurgical care and to secure equitable partnerships between local stakeholders and the international community.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Caitlin Hoffman
- Department of Neurological Surgery, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York
| | - John H Kanter
- Section of Neurosurgery, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire
| | - Gail Rosseau
- George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Daniel Safari Nteranya
- Surgery Department, Official University of Bukavu, University Clinics of Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo
| | - Arsene Daniel Nyalundja
- Center for Tropical Diseases and Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, Université Catholique de Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo
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Hoffman C, Härtl R, Shlobin NA, Tshimbombu TN, Elbabaa SK, Haglund MM, Rubiano AM, Dewan MC, Stippler M, Mahmud MR, Barthélemy EJ, Griswold DP, Wohns R, Shabani HK, Rocque B, Sandberg DI, Lafuente J, Dempsey R, Rosseau G. Future Directions for Global Clinical Neurosurgical Training: Challenges and Opportunities. World Neurosurg 2022; 166:e404-e418. [PMID: 35868506 DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2022.07.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Expanded access to training opportunities is necessary to address 5 million essential neurosurgical cases not performed annually, nearly all in low- and middle-income countries. To target this critical neurosurgical workforce issue and advance positive collaborations, a summit (Global Neurosurgery 2019: A Practical Symposium) was designed to assemble stakeholders in global neurosurgical clinical education to discuss innovative platforms for clinical neurosurgery fellowships. METHODS The Global Neurosurgery Education Summit was held in November 2021, with 30 presentations from directors and trainees in existing global neurosurgical clinical fellowships. Presenters were selected based on chain referral sampling from suggestions made primarily from young neurosurgeons in low- and middle-income countries. Presentations focused on the perspectives of hosts, local champions, and trainees on clinical global neurosurgery fellowships and virtual learning resources. This conference sought to identify factors for success in overcoming barriers to improving access, equity, throughput, and quality of clinical global neurosurgery fellowships. A preconference survey was disseminated to attendees. RESULTS Presentations included in-country training courses, twinning programs, provision of surgical laboratories and resources, existing virtual educational resources, and virtual teaching technologies, with reference to their applicability to hybrid training fellowships. Virtual learning resources developed during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and high-fidelity surgical simulators were presented, some for the first time to this audience. CONCLUSIONS The summit provided a forum for discussion of challenges and opportunities for developing a collaborative consortium capable of designing a pilot program for efficient, sustainable, accessible, and affordable clinical neurosurgery fellowship models for the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin Hoffman
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Roger Härtl
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Nathan A Shlobin
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Tshibambe N Tshimbombu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth University, Hannover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Samer K Elbabaa
- Section of Pediatric and Fetal Neurosurgery, Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, Florida, USA
| | - Michael M Haglund
- Division of Global Neurosurgery and Neurology and Department of Neurosurgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Andrés M Rubiano
- Neurosciences Institute, Neurosurgery Service, El Bosque University, El Bosque Clinic, MEDITECH-INUB Research Group, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Michael C Dewan
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Martina Stippler
- Division of Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Muhammad Raji Mahmud
- Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Surgery, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Kaduna, Nigeria; Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, USA; Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; NIHR Global Health Research Group on Neurotrauma, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; School of Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Ernest J Barthélemy
- Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, USA
| | - Dylan P Griswold
- Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; NIHR Global Health Research Group on Neurotrauma, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; School of Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | | | - Hamisi K Shabani
- Department of Neurosurgery, Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Brandon Rocque
- Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Children's of Alabama, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - David I Sandberg
- Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, McGovern Medical School and Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Jesús Lafuente
- Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital Universitario del Mar, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Robert Dempsey
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Gail Rosseau
- Department of Neurological Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA.
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Tshimbombu TN, Song SH, Kanter JH. Shako Djunga, M.D., 1938 -1986: The first Congolese Neurosurgeon. World Neurosurg 2022; 160:68-70. [PMID: 35101612 DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2022.01.106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 01/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Antoine Shako Hiango Omokanda Djunga was the pioneer of neurosurgery in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country located in Central Africa. He was born in 1938 in Sankuru, a province of the DRC. He graduated from the Free University of Brussels medical school and later trained there in neurosurgery. Thereafter, he completed a fellowship at Bellevue Hospital in New York. As a neurosurgeon, he worked at the Kinshasa University Clinic (KUC) of Lovanium School of Medicine in the DRC, where he introduced neurosurgery and advocated for the construction of the first dedicated neurosurgical operating room. His leadership helped ensure sustainability in the field in the DRC. He died at the age of 48 leaving a void in neurosurgery and an unfulfilled mission of advocating for the construction of an independent neurosurgery hospital in the DRC.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Seo Ho Song
- Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, 1 Rope Ferry Rd, Hanover, NH 03755
| | - John H Kanter
- Section of Neurosurgery, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH 03766
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