Macedonia - Health

Following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, the availability of health care statistics for Macedonia was hampered by internal hostilities. Separate health care data is slowly emerging from the new independent regions. Physicians in Macedonia are adequately trained, but there is a shortage of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. Patients who are seriously ill will often go abroad for medical help.

As of 2002, the crude birth rate and overall mortality rate were estimated at, respectively, 13.4 and 7.7 per 1,000 people. There were two births per married woman of childbearing age during 1999. The infant mortality rate has been reduced from 54 per 1,000 live births in 1980 to 14 in 2000. The life expectancy at birth for the average Macedonian was 73 in 2000. In 1994, 229 cases of measles were reported. In 1999 there were 50 cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 people.

In 1994, the immunization rates for children under the age of one were as follows: diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus, 87%; measles, 85%; and tuberculosis, 90%.