Child mortality in DR Congo 1895-2020

As the region of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo entered the 20th century, the population was reeling from extensive disease and exploitation under the rule of King Leopold II of Belgium. As a result of both the outbreak of several epidemics, including several particularly deadly smallpox outbreaks, throughout the 1890s, as well as harsh policies enforced by the Force Publique military under Leopold II’s command, the child mortality rate for the Congo in 1895 was 423 per 1000 live births. This meant that over 42 percent of children born in the Congo in 1895 would not survive past their fifth birthday. Over the next four decades, child mortality would begin to fall somewhat, to 389 deaths per 1,000 births by 1940. The child mortality rate would begin to fall dramatically in the decade following the Second World War, as the Belgian colonial administration pursued several development programs aimed at turning the rapidly urbanizing Congo into a “model colony”. As a result of this rapid development, as well as the beginning of large-scale implementation of vaccinations in the continent, child mortality would fall from 389 deaths per 1000 births in 1940 to 281 deaths in 1955. The decline in child mortality would slow somewhat following the DRC’s independence from Belgium in 1960, but would continue to fall for the remainder of the 20th century. After a brief reversal in 2000, where child mortality would rise for the first time in over a century in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and several civil and regional wars, the child mortality rate would continue to drop through the first two decades of the 21st century. In 2020, the child mortality rate in the Congo is estimated to be 100 deaths per 1,000 live births, which means that one tenth of children born today are still not expected to make it to their fifth birthday.

随着当今刚果民主共和国所在地区的步入20世纪，人口在比利时国王利奥波德二世统治下的广泛疾病和剥削中痛苦挣扎。1890年代，由于包括多次致命的天花爆发在内的多次流行病的爆发，以及利奥波德二世指挥下的公共力量军事力量的严厉政策，刚果在1895年的儿童死亡率高达每千名活产婴儿423人。这意味着在1895年刚果出生的儿童中，超过42%的儿童在五岁之前便无法存活。在接下来的四十年里，儿童死亡率开始有所下降，到1940年降至每千名出生婴儿389人死亡。第二次世界大战后的十年间，儿童死亡率开始显著下降，这得益于比利时殖民政府推行的一系列旨在将快速城市化的刚果转变为“模范殖民地”的发展计划。由于这一快速发展，以及大陆上大规模疫苗接种的实施，儿童死亡率从1940年的每千名出生婴儿389人死亡降至1955年的281人死亡。1960年刚果从比利时独立后，儿童死亡率的下降速度有所放缓，但在20世纪的剩余时间里仍然持续下降。2000年出现短暂的逆转，当时儿童死亡率在超过一个世纪后首次因HIV/AIDS流行病和多次内战及地区冲突而上升。但在21世纪的前二十年里，儿童死亡率继续下降。到2020年，刚果的儿童死亡率估计为每千名活产婴儿100人死亡，这意味着今天出生的儿童中有十分之一仍然无法预期活到五岁。