Nearly four million people died between 1998 and 2004 alone - the indirect result of years of ruinous fighting that has brought on a stunning collapse of public health services, the study in the Lancet concluded.
The majority of deaths were due to disease rather than violence, but war has cut off or reduced access to health services for millions in the impoverished country the size of Europe.
Most deaths reported were due to 'preventable and easily treatable diseases,' the study said. Malaria, diarrhea, respiratory infections and malnutrition topped the list.
Major fighting ended in Congo in 2002 but the situation remains dire because of continued insecurity, poor access to health care and inadequate international aid. The problems are particularly acute in eastern Congo.
'Rich donor nations are miserably failing the people of (Congo), even though every few months the mortality equivalent of two southeast Asian tsunamis plows through its territory,' the study said."
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