Fertility and Mortality Rates

The total fertility rate is 1.4 children per woman. This is extremely below 2.1, the replacement fertility level needed to maintain current population size.

Live birth rate is 12.9 per 1000, and mortality rate is 9.8 per 1000.

A large discrepancy exists between rural and urban under-5 mortality rates, with almost twice as many deaths per 1000 live births in rural areas than in urban.

The 2010 infant mortality rate was 15.7 per 1000 live births, and the under-5 mortality rate was 17.1. By 2050, the infant mortality rate is expected to drop to 5.6, and the under-5 mortality rate is expected to drop to 6.2.

Maternal mortality is 14.3 per 100,000 live births, which is the minimum value achieved from 1990–2008, and there were only 8 cases of maternal deaths in 2008.

While still high in international comparison, maternal and infant mortality rates have been steadily decreasing.

Disease and Leading Causes of Death

The leading causes of death in children under 5 can be attributed to prematurity, pneumonia, “other,” birth asphyxia, and congenital abnormalities.

Leading causes of death in the population are diseases of the circulatory system, neoplasms, “other,” accidents and injuries, and diseases of respiratory and digestive systems.

Infectious diseases are still the source of significant health problems, especially tuberculosis.

As in the rest of the former Soviet Union, especially among men, tobacco is a major contribution to the burden of disease; more than half of the population's males are tobacco users.

Child immunization rates are surprisingly low and stood between 30-50% in the early 1990s, rising to 70-90% in the early 2000s.

Quality

Weak government regulation means there is no real way to measure and ensure quality of care. Many facilities are short of very basic equipment, like thermometers and sterilizers.

Efficiency

Healthcare system has huge capacity, but low utilization, signaling low productivity.

As the referral process has diminished, many patients bypass the primary care level altogether and see specialists directly.