An estimated one out of 10 child deaths in Africa occurs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with 304,000 deaths in children under 5 reported in 2016.1 If the country is to meet the Sustainable Development Goals for under-5 mortality (target 25 per 1,000 live births by 2030) and neonatal mortality (target 12 per 1,000 live births), it must dramatically accelerate its annual reduction rate through more aggressive approaches.
The leading causes of childhood deaths in the DRC are neonatal complications, diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria. 2 Achieving coverage of high-quality child health services in the DRC to reduce these causes of mortality is challenging due to expansive geography, daunting natural barriers, limited coverage of health facilities, and inadequate financial resources for training and deploying health professionals. Only 35% of the country’s 85 million people live within 5 kilometers of a health facility. This report was compiled by JSI in 2020.
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