Why they're dying in the Congo

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Why they're dying in the Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo is in ruins. Over five million of its people have died since 1998 and millions have been displaced.

Patients in Congo hospital

Patients in a Congolese hospital

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  • More from this series

    • Part One
      Mark travels up the River Congo to visit villages in the west of the country.
    • Part Two
      Mark visits Kinshasa Hospital, the country's biggest hospital.

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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.

In part two, 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.

First broadcast Wednesday 20 August 2008

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