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Mauritius Health and Welfare
Government-funded health services and facilities are
widespread and accessible to most of the population,
although
facilities are concentrated in urban centers. According to
data
from the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development,
between
1972 and 1987 the number of doctors per 100,000 population
increased from twenty-seven to eighty. The number of
hospital
beds decreased from 328 to 285 per 100,000 population in
the same
period. In 1992 Mauritius had 3,094 hospital beds, and
1,090
physicians (including 152 specialists). Life expectancy at
birth
in 1994 on the island of Mauritius was 74.6 years for
females and
66.6 years for males, for an overall life expectancy of
70.5
years. In 1994 infant mortality stood at 18.4 per 1,000
live
births. In its 1991-92 national budget, the government
allocated
7.7 percent (about US$57.9 million) to health care.
Malaria, tuberculosis, and other diseases prevalent in
preWorld War II years have been brought under control by
successful
public health measures. The major causes of death in 1990,
in
descending order, were diseases of the circulatory system,
diseases of the respiratory system, and cancers. With
growing
affluence and changes in social conditions, drug abuse has
become
a problem. By 1993 all the population had easy access to
potable
water. Nutritional standards are high; the daily per
capita
caloric intake in 1987 was 2,680, or 124 percent of the
United
Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization recommended
requirement.
In the early 1980s, forty social welfare centers and
thirty
village centers provided training in nutrition and
maternal and
child health care, as well as recreational facilities and
courses
in home economics and dressmaking. The government provides
services, including board and lodging, to the elderly and
the
infirm. Family welfare allowances are also available for
the
poor. The Central Housing Authority and the Mauritius
Housing
Corporation provide funding for low-income housing.
Data as of August 1994
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