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Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015

Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015 193 KEY FACTS Joined Commonwealth: 1979 Population: 102,000 (2013) GDP p.c. growth: 0.9% p.a. 1990–2013 GNI p.c.: US$2,620 (2013) UN HDI 2014: World ranking 133 Life expectancy: 69 years (2013) Under-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births): 58 (2013) Largest contribution to mortality: Cardiovascular diseases Government health expenditure: 8.9% of GDP (2012) General information Kiribati (pronounced ‘Kirabas’) spreads across the central Pacific, intersected by the equator and formerly the International Date Line, with most other Commonwealth Pacific island countries lying to its south. Its 33 islands are scattered across 5.2 million sq km of ocean. There are three groups of islands: 17 Gilbert Islands (including Banaba), eight Line Islands and eight Phoenix Islands. The north/south extent is 2,050 km. Kiritimati (formerly Christmas Island) is the world’s biggest coral atoll (388 sq km). Kiritimati in the east is about 3,780 km from Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) in the west. Climate: Varies from maritime equatorial (central islands) to tropical in the north and south. There is little temperature variation: from an average 29°C in the southern Gilberts to 27°C in the Line Islands, dropping by less than 1°C in the coolest months. Humidity is constant at 70–90 per cent. North-west trade winds blow March–October. November–April, there are occasional heavy rains and strong to gale force winds, though Kiribati is outside the cyclone belt. Rainfall patterns vary considerably from year to year; drought is a constant danger. In 1997 Kiritimati was devastated by El Niño, which, according to scientists studying the island, brought heavy rainfall, a half-metre rise in sea levels and extensive flooding. Some 40 per cent of the coral was killed and the 14 million bird population, reputed to be the world’s richest, deserted the island. Environment: The most significant environmental issues are limited natural freshwater resources and heavy pollution of the south Tarawa lagoon, due to population growth around the lagoon and traditional practices, such as lagoon latrines and open-pit dumping. Population: 102,000 (2013); the Phoenix Islands, and central and southern Line Islands are mostly uninhabited; 44 per cent of people live in urban areas; population growth is 1.6 per cent p.a.1990–2013; birth rate 23 per 1,000 people (41 in 1970); life expectancy 69 years (49 in 1970). The government’s resettlement programme, which began in 1989, aimed to transfer almost 5,000 people from the densely populated western atolls to the Line and Phoenix Islands. Five of the Phoenix Islands were designated for residential development in 1995, especially for people from the overcrowded island of South Tarawa. The people are mostly of Micronesian origin (98.8 per cent in 2000 census). There are also Polynesian and European-descended minorities. Economy: Kiribati is classified as a lower-middle-income economy by the World Bank. Health Child and maternal health: Infant mortality in Kiribati was 45 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013, with an under-five mortality rate of 58 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013. There has been a consistent 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 32 deaths per 1,000 live births, as defined by Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4). In 2012 the three most prominent causes of death for children below the age of five years were acute respiratory infections (19 per cent), prematurity (14 per cent) and intrapartum-related complications (12 per cent). Other contributory causes were diarrhoea (11 per cent) and congenital anomalies (nine per cent), injuries (eight per cent) and neonatal sepsis (six per cent). In 2013 Kiribati had an adjusted maternal mortality ratio of 130 deaths per 100,000 live births. Burden of disease: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for an estimated 68 per cent of all mortality in Kiribati in 2008. The most prevalent NCDs in Kiribati are cardiovascular diseases, which accounted for 23 per cent of total deaths across all age groups in 2008. Non-communicable variants of respiratory diseases, cancer and diabetes contributed four per cent, five per cent and eight per cent to total mortality, respectively (2008). Kiribati


Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015
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