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Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015

KEY FACTS Joined Commonwealth: 1968 Population: 1,244,000 (2013) GDP p.c. growth: 3.5% p.a. 1990–2013 GNI p.c.: US$9,300 (2013) UN HDI 2014: World ranking 63 Life expectancy: 74 years (2012) Under-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births): 14 (2013) Largest contribution to mortality: Cardiovascular diseases Government health expenditure: 2.4% of GDP (2012) General information The Republic of Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean, lies east of Madagascar and the south-east African coast. Its nearest neighbour is the French island of Réunion. The Constitution 212 Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015 of Mauritius provides that Mauritius includes the islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues, Agalega, Tromelin, Cargados Carajos and the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia and any other island comprised in the State of Mauritius. Mauritius has always maintained that it has sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago but has not been able so far to exercise its sovereignty. Climate: The climate is maritime subtropical, with south-east trade winds blowing for much of the year. Summer, the rainy season, is November–April and winter, June–September. Rainfall ranges from 80 mm in October to 310 mm in February. Heavy rains fall mainly from late December to the beginning of April. Cyclones, occurring in the summer, occasionally do severe damage. Environment: The most significant issues are water pollution and degradation of coral reefs. Population: 1,244,000 (2012); 40 per cent of people live in urban areas. The population growth rate stood at 0.7 per cent p.a. between the years of 1990 and 2013. In 2013 the birth rate was 11 per 1,000 people (28 in 1970) and life expectancy was 74 years (62 in 1970). About 68 per cent of the population is of Indian descent, 27 per cent Creole and the remainder largely of Chinese or French descent. Economy: Mauritius is classified and as an upper-middle-income economy by the World Bank. Health Child and maternal health: Infant mortality in Mauritius was 13 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013, with an under-five mortality rate of 14 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013. There has been an overall decline in the under-five mortality rate since 1990. Although this decline is encouraging, the under-five mortality rate is not yet in line with the country’s target of eight deaths per 1,000 live births as defined by the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. In 2010 the two most prominent known causes of death for children below the age of five years were congenital anomalies (29 per cent) and prematurity (27 per cent). Other contributory causes were acute respiratory infections (ten per cent), neonatal sepsis (seven per cent), injuries (seven per cent), intrapartum-related complications (five per cent) and diarrhoea (one per cent). In 2013 Mauritius had an adjusted maternal mortality ratio of 73 deaths per 100,000 live births, estimated upwards from the 22 deaths per 100,000 that were reported. Burden of disease: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for an estimated 86 per cent of all mortality in Mauritius in 2012. The most prevalent NCDs in Mauritius are cardiovascular diseases, which accounted for 31 per cent of total deaths across all age groups in 2012. Diabetes, cancer and non-communicable variants of respiratory diseases contributed 26 per cent, 12 per cent and five per cent to total mortality, respectively (2012). Injuries accounted for six per cent of deaths in 2012. Mauritius


Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015
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