Death rate for children catastrophic, MSF says

Death rates in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are catastrophic, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the international medical charity, reported in a study published on Wednesday. In the report, "Violence and Access to Health in the DRC", MSF finds that in Basankusu, an area in the north very close to the front line, around 10 percent of the overall population had died over a 12-month period. "This is five times higher than normally expected," it reported. Children, it added, had been particularly affected by the war in this zone. About a quarter of children aged under five years had died over the 12-month period, it said, noting that in a normal situation the mortality rate for children of this age would be 3.6 percent. MSF attributed the increased death rate in combat-affected areas mainly to "indirect effects of violence", such as an increase in infectious diseases and malnutrition. "Violence led to loss of food and basic assets, medicines and services," it said. On each side of the front line, one at Basankusu and the other at Kilwa, respectively 37 percent and 80 percent of families were being looted, the MSF report said. Physical violence had also increased near the front. In Basankusu, for example, 17 percent of households had witnessed a case of torture. Populations in zones along the front line and in isolated areas were generally without health care. MSF reported that in four of the five areas surveyed, between 40 percent and 70 percent of the people were too poor to afford health care. Medicines and transport were also lacking.