Medical Conditions in Bénin

Background
Approximately the size of Pennsylvania, the Republique of Bénin, formerly the kingdom of Dahomey, is a French-speaking democratic country located in West Africa.

Benin faces a host of social, health, and environmental problems, including, but not limited to, inadequate supplies of potable water, ecological destruction, and a swelling population, which continues to grow at an annual rate of 2.5%. Very few people have access to a formal education, and approximately 59% of the population cannot read or write. This lack of education directly contributes to the severe degree of poverty that exists in Benin. The average annual household income is a mere $380 USD.

As in many African nations and developing countries, medical conditions in Bénin are limited. The primary illnesses that affect the people of Benin are preventable, and often communicable in nature. According to the Benin Ministry of Health, the most common ailments (which are subsequently the most common causes of death) include malaria, malnutrition, and respiratory infections (e.g. tuberculosis).

Due to a lack of general health education, many people – particularly women and children – often fall prey to a variety of diseases that can easily be averted. Local clinics and health facilities often lack proper medical supplies, resources, and infrastructure. Given these severe deficiencies, victims of disease frequently receive insufficient treatment, resulting in numerous unnecessary deaths.

Maternal & Child Health in Benin

The immense poverty into which Beninese children are born often dooms them to a life of poor health and disadvantage. An individual’s life expectancy at birth is a mere 51 years.
Benin has the 25th highest death rate among children age 5 and younger in the world.
Approximately 16% of Beninese children die before reaching their 5th birthday. With the average Beninese mother giving birth to six (6) children during her lifetime, she can expect for at least one to die during childhood.
The plight of mothers and children in Benin is a particularly serious issue partially due to the fact that the general population of Benin is relatively young – over half the population is under the age of 17.
45% of women give birth before the age of 20 and less than 5% of births are conducted under the supervision of a doctor.
Approximately 20% of children never receive immunizations against diphtheria, polio, measles, and Hepatitis B.
Although malaria exists as a dangerous, endemic disease that kills thousands each year, over 68% of children under the age of five do not have access to a mosquito bed net that can protect them from being infected with the disease while they sleep.

Medical Conditions in Benin
The majority of the health services budget must be supplemented by donor funding, as government expenditures on health add up to a mere 4.4% of Benin ’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Benin’s national budget only allows for approximately one (1) doctor per 19,000 people – a figure significantly lower than the ratio considered acceptable by the World Health Organization (one physician per 10,000 people). The health care situation is even more severe than it appears at first glance, as over 33% of health care personnel in Benin work in National University Hospital in the country’s capital of Cotonou. With such a large concentration of medically-trained individuals residing in one urban area, the actual proportion of doctors is even lower in most of the country.

Sources
Phrasebase – http://www.phrasebase.com/countries/Benin.html
CIA World Factbook (2005) www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bn.html
Global Policy Network. (2001) The labor market in Benin. www.globalpolicynetwork.org
UNICEF. (2005) At a glance: Benin. www.unicef.org/infobycountry/benin_statistics.html
The World Bank Group (2005) http://dvedata.worldbank.org
UNAIDS/WHO Working Group on Global HIV/AIDS and STI Surveillance. (2004) UNAIDS/WHO Epidemiological Fact Sheet. www.who.int/hiv
USAID Country Health Statistical Report: Benin. September 2004.