Moldova

With a per capita income of only $1,900, Moldova is the poorest country in all of Europe and ranks 188th of 233 nations in world incomes. This lack of resources has placed the health of the population at great risk. Officials report unemployment at 8 percent, but a fourth of Moldova's potential workforce is employed abroad. Around 40 percent of the workforce is engaged in the agricultural sector, which generates 21.3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Eighty percent of the population lives in poverty, and 22 percent subsists on less than $1 a day. Moldova ranks 36.2 on the [Page 1130]Gini index of inequality. The richest 10 percent hold 30.7 percent of all wealth, and the bottom 10 percent survive on 2.2 percent. The Moldovan government is working with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to promote economic growth and reduce poverty. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Reports rank Moldova 114th of 133 countries of quality-of-life issues.

Moldova has suffered a healthcare crisis since achieving independence from the Soviet Union, and a lack of funding has resulted in loss of services and an increase in poor health. Current data on health in Moldova are not easily available, but 78 percent of the population admits to finding healthcare unaffordable. Six percent of Moldova's total budget is allocated to health. Forty percent of healthcare funding originates from out-of-pocket expenses. Social security is financed through taxes on workers and employers. It covers the elderly, the disabled, and survivors. Maternity benefits are payable at 100 percent of average earnings from the 30th week of pregnancy, continuing for 126 days. Two additional weeks are covered for multiple births or for childbirth complications. Adoption benefits are available for 56 days after adoption takes place.

Moldova's population of 4,466,706 experiences a life expectancy of 65.65 years, with women outliving men an average of seven years. While literacy is widespread, there is a slight difference between the percentage of males (99.6 percent) and females (98.7 percent). Approximately 98 percent of children attend primary school, but school attendance drops to 75 percent at the secondary level. Some 28 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 14 are in the labor market. Only a third of the population regularly uses iodized salt. While 97 percent of urban residents have access to safe drinking water, only 88 percent of rural residents have such access. Improved sanitation is also less accessible to rural residents (52 percent) than to urban residents (86 percent). Women give birth at a rate of 1.85 children each. Of all women in the relevant age group, 62 percent use some method of birth control. Only 1 percent of all women gives birth outside the presence of skilled attendants, and 1 percent of women fails to receive prenatal care. The adjusted maternal mortality rate for Moldova is 36 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Between 1990 and 2004, infant mortality fell from 30 deaths per 1,000 live births to 23 and under-5 mortality dropped from 40 deaths per 1,000 live births to 28. Currently, infant mortality is recorded at 38.38 deaths per 1,000 live births, and Moldova has the 75th highest incidence of infant mortality in the world. Five percent of infants are underweight at birth, and 3 percent of children under the age of 5 are underweight. Ten percent of under-5s are moderately to severely stunted, and 3 percent experience wasting diseases. Over half of under-5s receive oral rehydration when necessary. In the poorest areas of Moldova, half the children are ill, and the children in orphanages are particularly vulnerable to disease. Large numbers of children are chronic carriers of hepatitis B. Therefore, 99 percent of all infants are immunized against the disease. From 1990 to 1993, Moldova's immunization program came to a virtual standstill due to a serious lack of funding. The international community stepped in and now funds 85 percent of the program. Consequently, infant immunization rates are high: diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT1), 99 percent; DPT3 and polio, 98 percent; and tuberculosis and measles, 96 percent.

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