Democratic Republic of Congo

We found no evidence of any official restrictions on entry to the Democratic Republic of Congo based on HIV status.

According to UNAIDS and the US Department of State, the Democratic Republic of Congo does not have any HIV-related restrictions on entry.

The International Airport of Kinshasa provides details on visas and entry conditions, along with the specific documentation per visa type. The requirements for the tourist visa does not include any document that makes reference to HIV or the general health of the applicant.

A yellow vaccine certificate is required.

We found no evidence of any official restrictions on short-term stay in the Democratic Republic of Congo based on HIV status.

According to UNAIDS and the US Department of State, the Democratic Republic of Congo does not have any HIV-related restrictions on short-term stay.

As above, the International Airport of Kinshasa provides details on short-term stay visas. For stays shorter than one year, the entry visa must be renewed. Therefore these stays also do not require any documentation relating to HIV or health conditions.

We found no evidence of any official restrictions on long-term stay in the Democratic Republic of Congo based on HIV status.

According to UNAIDS and the US Department of State, the Democratic Republic of Congo does not have any HIV-related restrictions on long-term stay.

As above, the International Airport of Kinshasa provides details on residence visas, and this does not require any documentation relating to HIV or health conditions.

The following summarises available information on access to healthcare for people living with HIV in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is no evidence that non-nationals are restricted from accessing treatment in the same way as nationals.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all migrants have access to all government-funded health services, regardless of their migratory status. 

Article 50 of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2006) states that ‘foreign nationals legally present on the national territory enjoy the same rights and freedoms as Congolese nationals, with the exception of political rights’, which include access to health care. 

Furthermore, Article 11 of Law No. 18/035 setting out the fundamental principles of public health (2018) stresses that ‘the whole population’ has access to public health service ‘without discrimination at any level’. Article 32 of Law No. 021/2002 of 16 October 2002 on the status of refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo stipulates that all recognised refugees enjoy the same treatment as citizens with regard to access to medical care. 

There are no legal barriers to access to care for migrants. Users must pay for public medical treatment as the health insurance system is limited, but the treatment fees are the same for Congolese and foreign citizens.

IOM reports that HIV treatment distribution points, called PODIs, have been set up ‘outside hospital walls’ by a vast network of HIV-positive associations, to relieve congestion in Congolese health centres. There were 18 Podis in the country in 2023. 

Médecins sans frontières (MSF), runs an HIV care unit in the centre hospitalier public de Kabinda, in Kinshasa, where free treatment is dispensed to people living with HIV.

The organisation also supports five health centres in the town of Goma that treat people with HIV/AIDS: the Virunga general hospital, the Kahembe and Carmel referral health centres, the military hospital, and the Heal Africa hospital, which specialises in treating children. The teams do not provide care directly, but offer organisational and technical support and training to local staff.

• UNAIDS
• US Department of State
• International Airport of Kinshasa
• International Organization for Migration

Migrant populations

Refugees and asylum seekers