Bahamas

THE BAHAMAS, a chain of islands, is situated in the north Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. The islands are a mecca for American tourists. Unfortunately, the location of the Bahamas also draws drug dealers and would-be immigrants seeking a port of entry into the United States. Half of the labor force is employed in the tourist industry, which provides more than 60 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

A high-income nation with a high standard of living and a stable economy, the Bahamas benefits economically from international banking, investment management, and internet commerce. In 2000, the government initiated new financial regulations that resulted in the withdrawal of a number of international businesses. This withdrawal contributed to the 10.2 percent unemployment rate.

Only five percent of all Bahamians are employed in agriculture, which is subject to extensive wind and rain during tropical storms. Data on social indicators are not always available for the Bahamas, and the exact extent of poverty is not known.

However, unofficial reports suggest that nine percent of the population are poor. Life expectancy in the Bahamas is 65.54 years, and islanders have a median age of 27.55 years. On average, females live seven years longer than males. Some 27.9 percent of Bahamians are under the age of 14, and 6.2 percent are over the age of 65.

Some 84 percent of islanders are likely to live to the age of 40. With a population of only 301,790, the islands have been devastated by a rising HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of three percent. In 2003, it was estimated that 5,600 people were living with this disease, which had killed close to 200 people. All Bahamians have access to proper sanitation, and only three percent lack access to safe water. There are 163 physicians for each 100,000 residents, and less than 20 percent of the population are able to afford essential drugs.

Between 1970 and 2005, infant mortality decreased from 38 deaths per 1,000 live births to 13 deaths per 1,000, and the mortality of children under 5 declined from 49 to 16 per 1,000. Estimates for 2005 indicated that male infants are much likelier to die than females, with a rate of 31.02 deaths per 1,000 as compared to 19.28 deaths per 1,000. Seven percent of Bahamian babies are underweight at birth. Childhood immunizations for children from birth to 23 months are in the 90 percent range, a 10 percent increase since the 1990s.

[Page 62]Total fertility in the Bahamas is estimated at 2.2 children per woman, and adolescent fertility occurs at the rate of 56 out of 1,000 births. This fertility rate decreased from 3.3 children per woman in the 1970-to-1975 period. Trained medical personnel attend virtually all births in the Bahamas. Despite the ready availability of healthcare, maternal mortality at 60 deaths per 100,000 live births as estimated by the 2000 model was six times the mortality rate of 10 per 100,000 as estimated by the 1995 model. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has played a role in this increase.

Literacy rates are high on the islands, with 94.7 percent of the male population over the age of 15 having the ability to read and write and 96.5 percent of all females in this age group having the ability to do so. In 2002, primary school completion rates for males and females stood at 78 and 84 percent respectively.

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