Gabon - Health



Most of the health services are public, but there are some private institutions, of which the best known is the hospital established in 1913 in Lambaréné by Albert Schweitzer. The hospital is now partially subsidized by the Gabonese government.

Gabon's medical infrastructure is considered one of the best in West Africa. By 1985 there were 28 hospitals, 87 medical centers, and 312 infirmaries and dispensaries. As of 1999, there were an estimated 0.2 physicians and 3.2 hospital beds per 1,000 people. From 1985 to 1995, 90% of the population had access to health care services. In 2000, 70% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 21% had adequate sanitation.

A comprehensive government health program treats such diseases as leprosy, sleeping sickness, malaria, filariasis, intestinal worms, and tuberculosis. There were 2,363 new cases of leprosy in 1995. As of 1994, rates for immunization of children under the age of one were 97% for tuberculosis and 65% for polio. Immunization rates for DPT and measles as of 1999 were 37% and 56% respectively. As of 1999, there were 289 reported cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 people. Gabon has a domestic supply of pharmaceuticals from a large, modern factory in Libreville.

The total fertility rate has decreased from 5.8 in 1960 to 4.2 children per mother during childbearing years in 2000. Ten percent of all births in 1993–96 were low birth weight. The maternal mortality rate was 520 per 100,000 live births as of 1998, a dramatic decrease from 1993, when the figure was 190. In 2000, the infant mortality rate was 58 per 1,000 live births and life expectancy was 53 years. As of 2002, the overall mortality rate was estimated at 17.6 per 1,000 inhabitants.

There were 990 new cases of AIDS in 1995. As of 1999, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was estimated at 23,000 and deaths from AIDS that year were estimated at 2,000. HIV prevalence was 4.16 per 100 adults. World Health Organization specialists and the government of Gabon took immediate action against the mid-1990s reemergence of the Ebola virus. In February 1996, Ebola hemorrhagic fever was responsible for the deaths of 21 people out of a total of 37 cases.

Also read article about Gabon from Wikipedia

User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: