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Health Care, Disease Control, Crime and Safety in Yemen

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The Republic of Yemen, being not a rich country compared to its neighbors who control a large percentage of world’s oil supply, as expected, doesn’t have a good health care program for it’s citizens. Currently, Yemen is ranked 127th in the world when it comes to mortality rate with 7.24 deaths per 1,000 population. Life expectancy of Yemeni nationals averages about 63.3 years of age. A high mortality rate and low life expectancy figures could only mean that people are not living that well in Yemen.

Aside from mortality rate and life expectancy figures, the ratio of doctors against the population and the ratio of hospital beds per 1000 population as well could already tell the story of the real state of the health care system of the country. As of 2004, according to World Bank statistics, there are only three doctors that services every 10,000 Yemenis while there are only .6 hospital beds per 1000 population. With the economy of Yemen struggling since 2004, no significant changes in improving these basic healthcare needs have been significantly noticed.

Another growing concern of the health ministry is the increasing HIV/AIDS cases. In 2001 alone, there had already been 12,000 reported cases and up to now, there has not really been a definite method or medicine that can totally arrest this now classified as a pandemic case.

The Ministry of Health of Yemen is also on the lookout for breakouts for bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, dengue fever, malaria and schistosomiasis, a disease contracted usually from freshwater snails.