Lithuania

With a per capita income of $13,700, the eastern European nation of Lithuania ranks 70th in world incomes. The government has successfully privatized most state-owned utilities, and 80 percent of businesses are now privatized. The economy is growing (7.5 percent) and unemployment (4.8 percent) and inflation (2.7 percent) are under control. Although the Lithuanian economy is diversified, a fifth of the population is engaged in the agricultural sector. By 2004 estimates, 252.2 million Lithuanians survive on less than $1 a day. Income disparities continue to exist, and Lithuania's Gini Coefficient is 31.9. More than a fourth (25.6 percent) of wealth is in the hands of the richest segment of the population, leaving the poorest ten percent with 3.1 percent. Ties with the West have intensified, particularly since Lithuania joined the European Union and NATO in 2004. The UNDP Human Development Reports classify Lithuania's standard of living as the 41st highest in the world. Health care is easily accessible for most Lithuanians.

The government's responsibility for direct health care derives from the social insurance program that covers the elderly, the disabled, survivors, and the economically disadvantaged. Since 2000, workers have been given the option of placing 2.5 percent of total incomes in individual retirement accounts. Social security is financed by contributions from employees (2.5 percent of wage), employers (23.4 percent of payroll), and government subsidies. Maternity benefits provide new mothers on leave with at least one-fourth of their salaries for up to 70 calendar days before birth and 56 calendar days after the expected birth of a child. Either parent is entitled to a year's leave with compensation equaling at least 60 percent of wages. Low-income families are provided with family allowances and free medical care.

The Lithuanian government spends 12 percent of the total budget on health. More than 6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is used to fund health programs, and approximately $754 (international dollars) per capita is earmarked for health. Government funding accounts for 76.0 percent of all health expenditures, and 74.6 percent of that amount is used to subsidize social security. The private sector provides 24 percent of health costs, and 96.60 percent of private funding is derived from out-of-pocket expenses. There are 3.96 physicians, 7.62 nurses, 0.33 midwives, 0.69 dentists, and 0.69 pharmacists per 1,000/population in Lithuania.

The population of 3,585,906 experiences a life expectancy of 74.2 years, and females generally outlive males by more than 10 years. Literacy is universal, and virtually all of the relevant population regularly attends primary and secondary school. Lithuania has the fifth lowest fertility rate in the world; and women give birth to 1.2 children each. Trained attendants are present at all births, and the adjusted maternal mortality rate is 13 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Infant mortality is currently reported at 6.78 deaths per 1,000 live births. Between 1990 and 2004, infant mortality dropped from 10 to eight deaths per 1,000 live births, and mortality rates for children under the age of five decreased from 13 to eight deaths per 1,000 [Page 1021]live births. Overall, Lithuanian children are healthy, but four percent of infants are underweight at birth. The government subsidizes all required infant immunizations, and rates are predictably high. Only one percent of infants fail to be immunized against tuberculosis and two percent against measles. Ninety-four percent of infants receive diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT1 and DPT3) and Hepatitis B inoculations, and 90 percent are immunized against polio. However, only 34 percent are immunized against Haemophilus influenzae type B.

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