Slovenia - Health

In 1992, health care reforms were adopted to modify the health care system in place when Slovenia was part of the former communist country of Yugoslavia. Direct health care funding by the government was replaced by a mostly employer-funded system run in conjunction with a new system of compulsory public health insurance. However, Slovenia still provides universal, comprehensive health care to all its citizens and its health cares system remains fairly centralized. As of 1999, there were an estimated 3.5 physicians and 7.1 hospital beds per 1,000 people. In the same year, total health care expenditure was estimated at 7.6% of GDP. In 2002 Slovenia had 26 hospitals, which included nine regional facilities, three local general hospitals, and the country's main teaching hospital and tertiary care center, the Clinical Center in Ljubljana.

In 2000, each Slovenian woman had an average of 1.2 children during her childbearing years. Only 11 mothers died during childbirth or pregnancy for each 100,000 live births in 1998. The infant mortality rate, which was 15 deaths per 1,000 in 1980, dropped significantly by 2000 to only 5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. The immunization rates in 1997 for a child under one were as follows: diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 91%, and measles, 82%. The life expectancy at birth was 75 years by 2000.

As of 2002 the leading cause of death was cardiovascular disease, to which nearly half of all deaths were attributed. The other major causes of mortality, in order of prevalence, were cancer, injuries, poisoning, respiratory diseases, and diseases of the digestive system. In the mid-1990s, there were more than 525 documented cases of tuberculosis; in 1999 there were 27 cases per 100,000 people. More Slovenian men smoked than women (35% vs. 23%). As of 1999, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was estimated at 200 and deaths from AIDS that year were estimated at fewer than 100. HIV prevalence was 0.02 per 100 adults.