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Why they're dying in the Congo
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BBC World Service on 25 August, 2008 08:18:00
 
It is a country striving to recover from what has been called Africa's world
war. This five-year conflict pitted government forces, supported by Angola,
Namibia and Zimbabwe, against rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda.
Despite a peace agreement signed in 2003 and the presence of the UN's largest
ever peacekeeping force, the dying continues; estimates put the monthly death
toll at 45,000.
Congo's violent conflicts are only one cause - the vast majority of the "excess
mortality" is caused by treatable conditions like malaria and malnutrition.
BBC World Affairs Correspondent Mark Doyle continues travelling from the west
to the east of the country on a journey to find out why so many people have
died and continue to die in the DRC.
He visits the Congolese capital Kinshasa and the Accident and Emergency
Department of the country's largest hospital, the Kinshasa General where he
speaks to health officials about the poor state of the hospital.
Also interviewed is the Congolese health minister who admits that health only
accounts for 2.5% of the country's budget.
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