Kuwait - Health

Kuwait has a highly advanced public health service, which is extended to all Kuwaiti residents, regardless of citizenship. In 1993, 100% of the population had access to health care services. As of 1999, total health care expenditure was estimated at 3.3% of GDP. In 1999, 100% of the urban population had access to safe water and 100% of the urban population had adequate sanitation. In 1994, there were 16 public hospitals and sanatoriums (with 4,271 beds) and 70 clinics and other health centers. Medical personnel included 2,717 doctors and 399 dentists in 1994. As of 1999, there were an estimated 1.9 physicians and 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

The incidence of typhoid fever and most infectious diseases is comparatively low; however, influenza is common and measles has resulted in a high fatality rate among children up to age five.

Between 1990 and 1994, immunization rates for children up to one year of age were as follows: tuberculosis, 93%; diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 98%; polio, 98%; and measles, 97%. As of 1999, the rates for DPT and measles were 94% and 95%, respectively. Common diseases were malaria (1,379 new cases in 1993) and measles (432 new cases in the same year).

Life expectancy in 2000 was 77 years and infant mortality was estimated at 9 per 1,000 live births. As of 2002, the crude birth rate and overall mortality rate were estimated at, respectively, 21.8 and 2.5 per 1,000 people. The total fertility rate in 2000 was2.7 children per woman during childbearing years. In 1990 and 1991, there were approximately 200,000 deaths attributed to the war between Kuwait and Iraq. In 1999 the HIV prevalence was0.12 per 100 adults.