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Table 1 General characteristics of study countries (Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala)

From: Barriers in household access to medicines for chronic conditions in three Latin American countries

 

NIC

HON

GUT

Demographica

 Population [Thousands]

5,142,098

7,536,952

12,728,111

 Proportion of population 60 years and older [%]

3.2

5.2

3.6

 Life expectancy at birth [Years]

70.8

73.0

68.7

 Declares ethnic minority (%)

15

6

41

Socio-economica

 Literacy rate [%]

74.1

78.0

71.0

 Gross Domestic Product (GDP), per capita, international $ (PPP-adjusted) [US$]

3262

2665

4148

 Gini index

40.1

57.7

55.1

 Proportion of population below the international poverty line [%]

48.3

20.7

16.0

 Unemployed proportion of the labor force [%]

12.2

3.8

1.8

Health servicesb

 Physicians’ ratio [10,000 hab.]

4.7

8.7

9.5

 Number of outpatient care facilities [10,000 hab.]

2.2

2.8

1.2

 Hospital beds ratio [per 1000 pop.]

0.9

1

0.5

 Outpatient health care visits ratio [per 1000 pop.]

2154

1445

1071

 Annual national health expenditure as a proportion of the GDP [%] [12]

3.7

2.0

1.4

 Annual national health expenditure as a proportion of the GDP [%] (Private)

3.5

2.6

4.8

 Health insurance coverage [%]

12.2

16.9

17.8

 Health services coverage [%]

56.6

60.7

67.0

Health status (proportional mortality)c

 Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) (%)

25

31

14

 Cancers (%)

13

13

11

 Respiratory diseases (%)

4

4

2

 Diabetes (%)

7

5

5

 Others non communicable diseases (%)

20

16

15

 Deaths estimated as caused by NCDs of all deaths (%)

69

69

47

  1. aOPS, (Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde). Saúde nas Américas - Panorama Regional y Perfiles de país. Washington, D.C.: Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde; 2012
  2. bPAHO, (Pan American Health Organization). Health Systems Profile in Nicaragua: Monitoring and Analyzing Health Systems Change/Reform. Washington, D. C.: PAHO2009.; PAHO, (Pan American Health Organization). Health System Profile Honduras, Central America: Monitoring and Analysis of Health Systems Change/Reform. Washington, D.C.:2009, PAHO, (Pan American Health Organization). Health systems profile of Guatemala. Washington, D.C2007
  3. cWHO, (World Health Organization). Noncommunicable Diseases Country Profiles Geneva WHO, (World Health Organization) 2011