3.9 million dead from war in Democratic Republic of Congo: The LancetEight years of war in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have left nearly four million people dead, making it the deadliest humanitarian crisis today, according to a study published on Saturday in the British medical weekly The Lancet.
The estimate is extrapolated from a nationwide survey among 19,500 households.
The national mortality rate was found to be 2.1 deaths per 1,000 per month, 40 percent higher than other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, investigators said.
The war's death toll was estimated at 3.9 million people, from the outbreak of the conflict in 1998 to mid-2004, when the survey was carried out.
Casualties were significantly higher in DRC's violence-torn, resource-rich eastern provinces.
"Most deaths were from easily preventable and treatable illnesses rather than violence," according to the study, lead-authored by Richard Brennan of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in New York.
"The conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo remains the world's deadliest humanitarian crisis. To save lives, improvements in security and increased humanitarian assistance are urgently needed."
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