Teaching and research: a vocation

Discreet yet determined, Associate Professor Gickelle Mpika has emerged as one of the most promising figures in the Congolese medical community. For her, becoming a doctor was never a matter of chance, but a life's calling. From childhood, medicine seemed like the obvious path. Trained at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Marien Ngouabi University, she distinguished herself through an exemplary academic career, marked by a constant scientific curiosity and a profound passion for research.

Her early work, focused on emerging diseases, gynecological oncology, and public health, reveals an approach that is both rigorous and profoundly humane. She advocates for an African medicine adapted to its realities, centered on prevention, listening, and support. Her time at the University Hospital Center of Brazzaville was pivotal: it was there that she forged her identity as a practitioner, close to patients, attentive to their suffering and the needs on the ground."Medical knowledge is only valuable if it serves to relieve suffering and to understand others."she emphasizes. Researcher, practitioner and trainer, Dr. Mpika embodies today a new generation of Congolese doctors capable of reconciling clinical research, technological innovation and social responsibility.

The association AMOUR POUR SANTE ET VIE and the CLINIQUE LE FORT: a symbol of hope and closeness

Committed to serving humanity, Dr. Gickelle Mpika founded the Love for Health and Life association in 2013, driven by a simple yet powerful conviction: to make healthcare accessible to all. This initiative reflects her desire to go beyond the hospital setting and act directly within communities, where the needs are greatest.

The association works to provide healthcare to the population, promote maternal and child health, and raise awareness of chronic and infectious diseases. Driven by a deep sense of humanism, it places prevention and health education at the heart of its work.

In keeping with this vision, Dr. Mpika founded Clinique Le Fort, located in the Moungali district of Brazzaville, on Boueta Mbongo Avenue. A true extension of her commitment, this clinic embodies her credo: “community-based, modern, and compassionate medicine.” Equipped with state-of-the-art technology and staffed by qualified professionals, the clinic offers personalized patient care, combining medical excellence with a warm, human touch. This model, inspired by international best practices, is deeply rooted in the Congolese context, where access to quality healthcare remains a daily challenge.“To heal is first and foremost to understand the person before the pathology.”She likes to remind us of this, remaining true to a philosophy of care based on listening, respect, and compassion. Thus, between humanitarian commitment and clinical practice, Dr. Gickelle Mpika builds a bridge between science and humanity, giving Congolese medicine a more approachable, attentive, and compassionate face.

A woman of influence in the making

Beyond her hospital and university duties, MCA Gickelle MPIKA has established herself as an influential female voice in a still largely male-dominated field, thanks in part to her resilient character. Her career inspires many young female doctors and health students eager to follow in her footsteps. Her leadership extends beyond the medical sphere: it challenges the role of women in healthcare governance and demonstrates that competence and femininity are not contradictory, but complementary. "Medicine knows no gender, only dedication and excellence," she affirms.

Ethics, discipline and proximity: the CDOMB's triple challenge

In December 2023, her career took on a national dimension when she was elected president of the Brazzaville Departmental Council of the Order of Physicians (CDOMB). The first woman to preside over a professional order in Congo, she symbolizes the modernization and feminization of professional governance in general, but particularly in the medical field.

Its role? To preserve medical ethics and professional standards in the department, and to ensure the regulation of medical practice in both the public and private sectors. It aims to foster a dynamic of local engagement.

• Clean up the profession by verifying the conformity of diplomas;

• Regulate practices according to the code of ethics;

• Strengthen the dialogue between health structures and the CNOM;

• Uniting doctors around a common vision: the quality and humanity of care.

Brazzaville, medical capital and laboratory of change

The beating heart of the Congolese healthcare system, Brazzaville is home to the country's main medical training, research, and treatment institutions. It is in this metropolis that Dr. Mpika hopes to instill a new medical culture, based on responsibility, transparency, and modernization.

As head of the Brazzaville Departmental Council of the Order of Physicians (CDOMB), she is leading an ambitious roadmap built around key projects: digitizing the national register of physicians for improved traceability and transparency; issuing biometric professional cards, a guarantee of credibility and security; and strengthening continuing education to maintain practitioners at the highest level of competence. These reforms, both technical and ethical, aim to restore public confidence and enhance the value of the medical profession, often undermined by precarious employment or a lack of institutional recognition. Through her modern vision and sense of duty, Dr. Gickelle Mpika is making Brazzaville a true laboratory for change, where the face of Congolese medicine is gradually being redefined as more credible, more responsible, and more humane.

A commitment beyond medicine: defending human rights

True to her values ​​of fairness and social justice, Dr. Gickelle Mpika extends her commitment far beyond the medical field. She serves as Commissioner for Human Rights, where she chairs the Sub-Commission on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In this role, which she carries out with ease and conviction, she advocates for the right to health for all, the protection of vulnerable people, and the promotion of a more equitable healthcare system. Her humanistic approach and her firsthand experience strengthen the credibility of her work within this institution, which is essential to consolidating the rule of law.“Health is not a privilege, it is a fundamental right.”she likes to remind us, emphasizing the need for human-centered public policies.

Ethics as a compass

For Dr. Gickelle Mpika, the future of Congolese medicine rests on an unshakeable foundation: professional ethics. “Respect for the Hippocratic Oath must once again become our daily guiding principle. Medicine is not just a profession; it is a commitment to life,” she states with conviction. Her message is clear: the modernization of healthcare cannot be limited to infrastructure or technology. It must be accompanied by a moral renaissance, a return to the fundamentals of the profession: competence, respect, empathy, and integrity. With her vision, her career path, and her commitment, Dr. Gickelle Mpika embodies this generation of Congolese practitioners who are restoring hope to the healthcare sector. Her mandate at the CDOMB, like her daily work at Clinique Le Fort, testifies to the same ambition: to build a more humane, inclusive, and credible Congolese healthcare system. History will probably remember that it was in Brazzaville, under the impetus of a woman of conviction, that medical ethics found a new voice.