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 KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - In Congo's largest hospital, surgical patients die for lack of antiseptics and doctors amputate broken limbs infected before patients find money for casts. When the power goes out, surgeons operate by flashlight.
Four years after the end of a 1998-2002 war, experts say 1,000 people are still dying every day in Congo, mostly from diseases or injuries easily treated elsewhere. But the collapsing health care system is just one of the challenges the winner of last Sunday's landmark presidential runoff will face as head of a nation crippled by rampant unemployment, deep poverty, and violence in the lawless east.
Fixing it will not be easy.
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