Equatorial Guinea - Health

The national health system of Equatorial Guinea consists of four levels: health posts in each village of 600 people, dispensaries in health centers with a qualified nurse at the intermediate level, district level hospitals, and two referral hospitals at the most centralized level. In 1992, there were 1,026 hospital beds nationwide; of these, 910 were in hospitals, 8 were in health centers, and 108 were in health posts. In addition, there were 11 observation beds in dispensaries. In 1990, Equatorial Guinea had 99 physicians as well as 154 nurses and 55 midwives.

In 1999, the infant mortality rate was 91 per 1,000 live births. The maternal mortality rate in 1990 was 820 women per 100,000 live births. Life expectancy in 1999 was 54.4 years, with an overall death rate of 12.9 per 1,000 people.

Major health problems (1992 data) are preventable diseases, mainly malaria (increasingly chloroquine resistant), parasitic disease, upper respiratory infections, gastroenteritis, and complications of pregnancy. In the continental zone, sickle cell anemia is common. Approximately 61% of the country's children were immunized against measles between 1991 and 1994.

At the end of 2001, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was estimated at 5,900 (including 3.4% of the adult population) and deaths from AIDS that year were estimated at 370.