Health in Djibouti

In Djibouti, malnutrition is severe and the incidence of tuberculosis is high. Malaria is endemic. There were 3,111 reported cases of tuberculosis in 2009. The city of Djibouti’s publicly supplied water is suspect because the system is in disrepair.

Health care

In 2004 there were an estimated 13 physicians, 2 dentists, 65 nurses, and 2 pharmacists per 100,000 people. Djibouti’s government has developed plans to improve public health and the management of hospitals, train more staff, and rehabilitate existing facilities.

Life rates

In 2005 life expectancy was estimated at 43.10 years, one of the lowest in the world. That year, the infant mortality rate was 104.13 per 1,000 live births. The death rate was 14.4 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. As of 2002, the birth rate was estimated at 40 births per 1,000 people.

HIV/AIDS

The HIV/AIDS in Djibouti prevalence was 2.90 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 9,100 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 690 deaths from AIDS in 2003. A 12 million dollars project launched in 2004 by the World Bank led by Dr. Sameh El-Saharty to raise awareness to the disease.

Women and children

There were 1,007 cases of malaria in 1994. Between the mid-1970s and the mid-1990s, 23 percent of children under five were underweight. In Djibouti, nearly every woman has had female genital mutilation.

References

http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64312881&piPK=64302848&theSitePK=40941&Projectid=P073603 siteresources.worldbank.org/.../Djibouti_AIDS_WAD07_finalppt.ppt http://www.poplas.org/en/bibliographies/expert_details.asp?SISN=986

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.