Romania

Romania is located on the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. It landlocked except for a narrow coastline on the Black Sea. The Danube River forms its southern border. A third of the country is covered by the Carpathian Mountains, a steep and densely-forested region that gives the country its most scenic vistas.

Romania became a Communist state in 1947. In 1965 the country was transformed into a police state under the control of the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu; he was overthrown and executed in 1989. Communists were swept from power in 1996, and the country is now a modernizing free-market economy. They were admitted to the European Union in 2007.

The population is 22,276,000. With the death rate at 11.81 per 1,000 and the birth rate of 10.67 per 1,000, the population is declining at a rate of 0.127 percent annually. Median age is 36.9 years. Life expectancy is 68.41 years for males and 75.62 years for females. Gross national income is $3,830. One-quarter of the population lives below the poverty line.

Mortality from infectious or parasitic diseases is low at 1.3 percent, or 15 deaths per 100,000. The adult prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS is under 0.1 percent, but there are signs that there could eventually be a more generalized epidemic. Romania has the second-highest tuberculosis rate in the European Union, with its 130 cases per 100,000 comparing to a rate of 13 per 100,000 in the rest of Europe. Sexually-transmitted disease is also much higher than EU averages, with 45 new cases of syphilis per 100,000 compared to 3 new cases per 100,000 in the EU.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in Romania, accounting for 61 percent of deaths annually. Cancer affects 1.3 percent of the population and accounts for 15.5 percent of deaths. Overall, Romania seems to have a much lower cancer prevalence than the rest of the European Union, although cervical cancer rates, at 32 cases per 100,000, are ten times higher than the EU average. Respiratory diseases cause another 6 percent of deaths. Two percent of the population has diabetes.

Romanians have several risk factors for the development of disease. Over 32 percent of males and 10 percent of females are regular smokers. Twelve percent of men and 5.5 percent of women are obese. While alcohol consumption is lower than the EU average, at 6.2 litres per person per years, it is not insignificant. Drug use is a growing problem, with as much as 1.3 percent of the population of Bucharest believed to be using IV drugs. Use of opiates and marijuana is also common. Child mortality rates have improved dramatically in the last decade, with 16 deaths per 1,000 in infants and 19 per 1,000 for children under 5. Immunization rates are 97 percent or higher. Child abuse and child abandonment are serious problems in Romania. A 2001 survey found that 47 percent of parents admitted to beating their children as punishment. There were believed to be 76,000 abandoned children in 2006, with 27,000 in state-run institutions awaiting placement. Many other children live on the streets. Rural children, especially Roma (gypsy) children, have inadequate access to health care and education. Over 90 percent of the 70,000 child laborers in the country live in rural areas.

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