Demographic findings relevant for health care planning and evaluation collected through a malaria control project in the Kivu Mountains, Zaire

Population studies were conducted in the margin of a community based malaria control programme in the Katana Health zone, in the Eastern part of Zaire. The reported findings are based on prospective registration of vital events from March 1986 through February 1987. At mid term 28.083 people were covered. The age and sex structure of the population was typical for tropical Africa, apart from an excess of males to females after the age of 64. The mean age at marriage was 21.2 years for women and 25.6 years for men. 89% of women did not complete a single year of formal education. The crude fertility rate was 250‰ and total fertility 8.3 children. The infant mortality rate and the child mortality quotients attained 130‰ and 183‰ respectively. The crude death rate was 23 per 1000 and the natural population growth rate 31‰. Due to a net out-migration of 28‰ the zone's population remained, however, virtually stable. The latter observation questions the purported role of demographic pressure as a key determinant of the region's slow socio-economic development. The other findings provide valuable baseline and background information for planning and evaluating health-related activities.