Congo, Democratic Republic of the (DROC) - Health

The departure of large numbers of European medical personnel in mid-1960 left the country's health services greatly weakened. Not a single African doctor had been graduated at the time of independence. In 1960, 90 doctors of 28 nationalities recruited by the World Health Organization (WHO) were working in the country. The WHO's emphasis was on the training of national health workers, to prepare them to run their own health services. In 1990–97, there were 1.4 hospital beds per 1,000 people. Medical personnel in 1990 included 2,469 physicians, 59 pharmacists, 41 dentists, and 27,601 nurses. Most facilities are concentrated in the major cities. Total health care expenditures were $179 million in 1990.

The first Ebola hemorrhagic fever identified in 40 years occurred in 1995. Of the 317 cases reported, an extremely high mortality rate was observed (77%). Common diseases include malaria, trypanosomiasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, diarrheal diseases (73,200 cases in 1995), tuberculosis (301 cases per 100,000 people in 1999), measles (5,443 cases in 1995), leprosy, dysentery, typhoid, and hookworm.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo lies in the area of Africa with the highest number of cases of AIDS. At the end of 2001 the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was estimated at 1.1 million. Deaths from AIDS in 1999 were estimated at 95,000. In the same year HIV prevalence was 5.07 per 100 adults.

Malnutrition is a serious health problem, especially among children; malnutrition was prevalent in an estimated 34% of all children under five years old in 2000. In 1999, there were 301 cases of tuberculosis reported per 100,000 people. In 1995, children up to one year old were immunized against tuberculosis (51%); diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (35%); polio (36%); and measles (41%). The goiter rate was 41 per 100 school-age children in 1996. In 2000, 45% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 20% had adequate sanitation.

In 1999 the birth rate was 46.4 per 1,000 people with only an estimated 3% of married women (ages 15 to 49) using contraception in 1991–93. Average life expectancy was 46 years in 2000. In the same year, infant mortality was 85 per 1,000 live births. Maternal mortality was 870 per 100,000 live births in 1990–97 and general mortality was 14.9 per 1,000 people in 1999.

In the mid-1990s, 1.1 million women, or 5% of the female population in the DROC, underwent female genital mutilation. The government has not published a policy opposing this procedure.