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Mauritania
Index
Mauritania's health care infrastructure in the early 1980s
consisted of a central hospital in Nouakchott, twelve regional
hospitals, a number of health clinics, maternal and child care
centers, dispensaries, and mobile medical units to serve the
countryside. All facilities suffered from a lack of equipment,
supplies, and trained personnel. The ratio of people to hospital
beds was 2,610 to one. The ratio of people to physicians was
13,350 to one. This ratio represented an improvement over the
1965 figure of 36,580 to one and was better than that of some of
Mauritania's neighbors.
In 1987 Mauritania's largest medical facility was the 500-bed
government-run hospital in Nouakchott. Staffed by Mauritanian and
expatriate doctors, it lacked supplies and properly maintained
equipment. Other facilities included the National Health Center,
built in 1977 for the study of disease prevention and methods of
public health care education, and the National School of Nurses
and Midwives, founded in 1966 to train nurses, midwives, and
paramedical personnel.
In general, health standards were quite low, and many
infectious diseases were endemic. Contagious diseases (such as
measles and tuberculosis) and respiratory disorders were more
prevalent in northern arid regions, whereas malaria, guinea worm
infection, and schistosomiasis were more common in the Senegal
River Valley. The desert tended to be a healthier environment
than the more tropical south, but several major diseases were
common to all areas of the country. Typhoid, poliomyelitis,
hepatitis, and a variety of parasitic illnesses also affected the
population. In late 1987, the World Health Organization issued
warnings about cholera, and outbreaks of both yellow fever and
Rift Valley fever were reported in the extreme southern part of
Trarza Region around Rosso. Contagious and infectious diseases
were rampant in the kébés surrounding major towns, cities,
and villages.
In the mid-1980s, a mass vaccination campaign for children
under five years of age was under way. The program, aimed at
reducing infection from poliomyelitis, diphtheria, pertussis, and
several other diseases, was reportedly meeting with some success.
Malnutrition remained widespread, especially in children. The
long-term drought and the consequent drop in food production
exacerbated this problem during the early 1980s. According to a
1987 report by the United States Agency for International
Development, between 40 percent and 70 percent of children under
the age of five had experienced moderate to severe malnutrition.
The degree of malnutrition varied according to the success or
failure of local crops, and some slight improvement was noted in
early 1987.
Data as of June 1988
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