Health systems: In 2012 government expenditure on health was 7.7 per cent of GDP, equivalent to US$142 per capita. In the most recent survey, conducted in the period 1997–2010, there were 22 doctors, and 205 nurses and midwives per 100,000 people. Additionally, in the period 2007–12, 86 per cent of births were attended by qualified health staff and in 2013, 76 per cent of oneyear olds were immunised with one dose of measles. In 2012, 81 per cent of the country’s population had access to improved water sources and 29 per cent had access to adequate sanitation facilities. The most recent survey, conducted in the period 2000–11, reports that Solomon Islands has ten pharmaceutical personnel per 100,000 people. There are nine public hospitals, four private church-funded hospitals, around 25 health centres, 109 rural health clinics and more than 150 nurse aid posts. The National Referral Hospital is located in Honiara, Guadalcanal Province. An official mental health policy does not exist and mental health is not specifically mentioned in the general health policy. A policy was S o l omo n I s l a n d s drafted in 2009, but has not yet been implemented. Legislation on mental health dates back to 1978. The World Health Organization Country (WHO) Specific Strategic Agenda (2013–17) identified seven strategic priorities for Solomon Islands, which include continuing with health sector reform, especially with regard to expanding the National Referral Laboratory and its infrastructure, and implementing the National Medicines Policy. The reforms will also see planning and budgeting devolved to provinces by defining the levels of service, or ‘packages of care’, that ought to be provided at the various health care facilities that make up the Solomon Islands health system. Health MDGs: The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) mature in 2015, but monitoring of progress is ongoing due to the time it takes to collect and analyse data from each country. For Solomon Islands to achieve its targets for the reduction of child mortality, which forms MDG 4, it will need to have reduced underfive deaths per 1,000 live births to 14 and increased measles immunisation to 100 per cent when the 2015 data is analysed. In 2013 under-five mortality stood at 30 deaths per 1,000 live births and measles immunisation at 76 per cent. The country also had no recorded cases of measles in 2008. Solomon Islands is unlikely to meet either of these targets, particularly that regarding under-five mortality, which would entail reducing deaths by more than half in two years. Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015 265 Under-five mortality 40 35 30 25 20 15 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 Under-five mortality per 1,000 live births 2015 MDG 4 target 10 Life expectancy 1980 1990 2000 2013 Life expectancy Life expectancy in years 80 70 60 50 Mortality by cause of death (% of all deaths), 2012 Communicable diseases, Injuries maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions Non-communicable diseases Tuberculosis: Incidence and mortality 1990 2000 2010 Mortality excluding cases comorbid with HIV (per100,000 people) Incidence of tuberculosis (per 100,000 people) – including cases comorbid with HIV 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015
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