Albania

Like other transition nations, Albania has been struggling to reinvent itself economically and politically and to provide a healthy living standard after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Albania's per capita income of $5,300 makes it one of the poorest counties in Europe. A fourth of the population lives in poverty, and around 11.8 percent of the people subsist on less than $2 a day. Officially, unemployment is reported at 14.3, but unofficial estimates place unemployment at 30 percent. Widespread underemployment also exists.

The largest segment of Albania's economy is derived from agriculture (58 percent of the labor force), which is chiefly subsistence in nature. Regular remittances from abroad, particularly from Greece and Italy, make up from $600 to $800 million of Albania's total budget. Much-needed resources are drawn away from the social sector by corruption and organized crime. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Reports rank Albania 73rd out of 177 countries on overall quality-of-life issues.

Albania's government spends 4 percent of its total budget on healthcare, which consumes 6.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Approximately $366 (international dollars) per capita is allotted for healthcare expenses. Around 42 percent of all health-care expenses are covered by the government, and 25.1 percent of government funding is earmarked for social security. A portion of government funds is used to pay salaries of personnel in government-sponsored facilities. It is illegal for these medical professionals to accept additional payments from patients. However, 45 to 67 percent of Albanians submit informal payments to ensure a higher quality of service. Consequently, the poorest segment of the population lacks sustained access to quality healthcare. The private sector provides 58.3 percent of healthcare funding, with 99.80 percent of that funding deriving from out-of-pocket expenses. There are approximately 1.31 physicians, 3.62 nurses, 0.59 percent midwives, 0.45 percent dentists, and 0.40 pharmacists per 1,000 population in Albania.

The population of 3,581,655 has a life expectancy of 77.43 years, and females generally outlive males by four years. There is a good deal of disparity between male (93.3 percent) and female (79.5 percent) literacy in Albania. Approximately 95 percent of all children are enrolled in school at the primary level. Attendance drops to 81 percent at the secondary level, partially because 23 percent of Albanian children between the ages of 5 and 14 are in the labor force. Technically, only 1 percent of urban residents and 5 percent of rural residents lack access to safe drinking water. However, less than one-half of the population has running water inside the home. One percent of the urban population and 19 percent of rural residents lack access to improved sanitation.

Three-fourths of Albanian women use birth control. Fertility is relatively high at 2.03 children, partially because of the need for free labor on family farms. Albania has a problem with teenage pregnancy, and 16 of every 1,000 live births involve adolescent mothers. Only 2 percent of all births occur without the presence of trained attendants, and 91 percent of mothers receive antenatal care. The adjusted maternal mortality rate is 55 deaths per 100,000 live births.

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