A report released Wednesday by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warns that child mortality in Angola remains dangerously high, despite the end of the country's civil war four years ago.
A survey carried out in the municipality of Xa-Muteba, in the northeastern province of Lunda Norte, found that roughly 2.8 children under age five were dying daily per 10,000, a rate nearly three times the benchmark for developing countries and well above the emergency threshold of two per 10,000.
Malaria accounted for more than half of those deaths. MSF's humanitarian affairs coordinator, Hernan Del Valle, called the situation deeply troubling, noting that Xa-Muteba sits in a diamond-rich region that generates considerable wealth, yet its health system remains severely underfunded.
Angola, sub-Saharan Africa's second-largest oil producer, has been experiencing an economic boom since its 27-year war ended in 2002, but improved living standards have not followed. Infrastructure destroyed during the conflict has yet to be adequately rebuilt, and medical supplies and trained staff remain scarce in affected areas.
The country is also contending with a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 2,000 people.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in August 2006, in its own words.