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Libya
Medical Care
The number of physicians and surgeons in practice increased fivefold
between 1965 and 1974, and large increases were registered in
the number of dentists, medical, and paramedical personnel. Further
expansion and improvement followed over the next decade in response
to large budgetary outlays, as the revolutionary regime continued
to use its oil income to improve the health and welfare of all
Libyans. The number of doctors and dentists increased from 783
in 1970 to 5,450 in 1985, producing in the case of doctors a ratio
of 1 per 673 citizens. These doctors were attached to a comprehensive
network of health care facilities that dispensed free medical
care. The number of hospital beds increased from 7,500 in 1970
to almost 20,000 by 1985, an improvement from 3.5 beds to 5.3
beds per 1,000 citizens. During the same years, substantial increases
were also registered in the number of clinics and health care
centers.
A large proportion of medical and paramedical personnel were
foreigners brought in under contract from other Arab countries
and from Eastern Europe. The major efforts to "Libyanize" health
care professionals, however, were beginning to show results in
the mid1980s . Libyan sources claimed that approximately 33 percent
of all doctors were nationals in 1985, as compared with only about
6 percent a decade earlier. In the field of nursing staff and
technicians, the situation was considerably better--about 80 percent
were Libyan. Schools of nursing had been in existence since the
early 1960s, and the faculties of medicine in the universities
at Tripoli and Benghazi included specialized institutes for nurses
and technicians. The first medical school was not established
until 1970, and there was no school of dentistry until 1974. By
1978 a total of nearly 500 students was enrolled in medical studies
at schools in Benghazi and Tripoli, and the dental school in Benghazi
had graduated its first class of 23 students. In addition, some
students were pursuing graduate medical studies abroad, but in
the immediate future Libya was expected to continue to rely heavily
on expatriate medical personnel.
Among the major health hazards endemic in the country in the
1970s were typhoid and paratyphoid, infectious hepatitis, leishmaniasis,
rabies, meningitis, schistosomiasis, and venereal diseases. Also
reported as having high incidence were various childhood diseases,
such as whooping cough, mumps, measles, and chicken pox. Cholera
occurred intermittently and, although malaria was regarded as
having been eliminated in the 1960s, malaria suppressants were
often recommended for use in desert oasis areas.
By the early 1980s, it was claimed that most or all of these
diseases were under control. A high rate of trachoma formerly
left 10 percent or more of the population blinded or with critically
impaired vision, but by the late 1970s the disease appeared to
have been brought under control. The incidence of new cases of
tuberculosis was reduced by nearly half between 1969 and 1976,
and twenty-two new centers for tuberculosis care were constructed
between 1970 and 1985. By the early 1980s, two rehabilitation
centers for the handicapped had been built, one each in Benghazi
and Tripoli. These offered both medical and job-training services
and complemented the range of health care services available in
the country.
The streets of Tripoli and Benghazi were kept scrupulously clean,
and drinking water in these cities was of good quality. The government
had made significant efforts to provide safe water. In summing
up accomplishments since 1970, officials listed almost 1,500 wells
drilled and more than 900 reservoirs in service in 1985, in addition
to 9,000 kilometers of potable water networks and 44 desalination
plants. Sewage disposal had also received considerable attention,
twenty-eight treatment plants having been built.
Data as of 1987
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