Turkey - Health

Free medical treatment, given at state hospitals or health centers, is provided by the state to any Turkish citizen who obtains a certificate of financial need from a local administrator. In 1992, there were 941 hospitals with 139,606 beds (2.4 per 1,000 people). Of this number, 616 were public, with 72,513 beds. As of 1999, there were an estimated 1.2 physicians and 2.6 hospital beds per 1,000 people. In 2000, 83 % of the population had access to safe drinking water and 91% had adequate sanitation.

Malaria, cholera, and trachoma have been effectively controlled by large-scale public preventive measures. In 1999 there were 38 cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 people. Immunization rates for children up to one year old in 1997 were tuberculosis, 73%; diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 79%; polio, 79%; and measles, 76%. In 1995, there were 30,997 deaths of children under five from diarrheal disease. Malaria incidence has decreased from 47,156 in 1993 to 13,467 in 1995.

As of 2002, the crude birth rate and overall mortality rate were estimated at, respectively, 17.9 and 6 per 1,000 people. About 64% of married women (ages 15 to 49) used contraception in 2000. In the same year the total fertility rate was 2.4 children for every Turkish woman who lived through her childbearing years. Average life expectancy was 70 years in 2000. In the same year Infant mortality was estimated at 34 per 1,000 live births. Maternal mortality was 130 per 100,000 live births in 1998. Between 1984 and 1992, there were approximately 5,000 warrelated deaths in the Kurd rebellion.

The HIV prevalence rate was 0.0 per 100 adults in 1999. Only 194 AIDS cases were reported in 1996.

Tobacco consumption in Turkey has increased from 2.0 kg a (4.4 lbs) year per adult in 1984 to 2.2 kg (4.9 lbs) in 1995.