Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in eastern Asia, between China and Russia. It is the least densely populated country in the world, with 4.4 people per mile. The center of the powerful Mongol Empire in the 13th Century, for many centuries it passed between Russian [Page 1134]and Chinese rule, emerging in the 20th century as a Communist country firmly allied with Russia. In 1992, the country ratified a new, democratic constitution.

The population is 2,900,000 and growing at 1.49 percent annually. The birth rate is 21.07 per 1,000 and the death rate is 6.21 per 1,000. The median age is 24.6 years.

Life expectancy is 64.61 years for males and 69.48 years for females. Gross national income is $690 per person, with 27 percent of the population living on less than $1 day. The economy has traditionally been based on nomadic herding and agriculture, and is only now beginning to develop some of its natural resource sector. A severe drought in 2000–2001 lead to a serious loss of livestock and crops.

Clean water and sanitation is a problem throughout the country, with less than 40 percent of the rural population able to access safe water and hygienic latrines. Conditions are slightly better in the urban areas, where 87 percent have safe water and 75 percent have sanitation. Common communicable diseases included hepatitis A, B and C, typhoid fever, meningitis, diarrhea, and acute respiratory infections.

There have been only a small number of HIV/AIDS cases reported in Mongolia over the past decade. However, the World Health Organization warns that the country is primed for a major outbreak: almost half the population is under the age of 23 and an increasing number of young people are moving to urban areas. STDs are already on the increases, and the tuberculosis rate is high. The TB prevalence rate is 209 per 100,000, with a cure rate of 87 percent.

The disease burden is rapidly shifting to non-com-municable diseases, and “lifestyle” issues. Rates of cardiovascular disease, cancers, accidents and poisoning have all climbed in recent years. Injuries and accidents, many of them fueled by alcohol consumption, is the third leading cause of death.

Rates of obesity and diabetes is low, but tobacco use is high among men. Drug abuse and accidental overdoses, both accidental and intentional, has emerged as a serious problem in urban areas. Mongolia is, as UNICEF says, a country of children, with 32 percent of the population under the age of 14. Overall health has been improving for many years, with low mortality rates of 22 infant deaths and 28 under-five deaths per 1,000. Nutrition rates, once very poor, are now much better, with low rates of underweight and stunted children.

Children do still suffer from poor water quality and limited sanitation. Among older children, teenage pregnancy rates have declined, but sexually-transmit-ted diseases are climbing, and is now the leading communicable disease for between 36–42 percent of Mongolians under 25.

Contraception use among women is close to 70 percent, and the fertility rate is relatively low at 2.25 children per woman. Ninety-four percent of women receive prenatal care, and 97 percent of births are attended by trained professionals. Despite this level of care, the country still has a fairly high maternal mortality rate of 110 deaths per 100,000 live births.

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