Some 45 000 people die each month in Congo as result of collapsed health service, says UN official

The breakdown of the healthcare infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo poses a huge challenge to humanitarian aid groups trying to provide lifesaving health care in the war ravaged nation, the United Nation’s top relief official has said.

“In the Congo overall some 1500 people die every day, that’s 45 000 a month,” said Ross Mountain, the UN’s resident humanitarian coordinator in the country, at a recent press conference in Geneva. “The bulk of those are not dying because they have been shot, although a number are. Most are dying because of the breakdown in the health system.

“They’re dying …