Designed by Explorer Designs
Children
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There are 260,000 orphans in the Dominican Republic.
9% of children 5-14 years old are used as child labor.
41% of children are involved in child marriage.
The population under age 18 in 2003 was 3,358,000.
Dollars and Sense
Disease and poverty are inseparable; an increase in poverty will invariably lead to greater disease, disability, and death rates.
25-40% of Dominicans live below the poverty line.
The average yearly income in 2003 was $2070 (source UNICEF).
Education
90.6% of Domincan school-age children are enrolled in primary school and 40% are enrolled in
Statistics
secondary school, compared to the 92% of children enrolled in primary school and 55% enrolled in secondary school in the rest of Latin America.
Of every 100 children that enter 1st grade, only 53 finish 8th grade.
Only 12% of the population has graduated from high school.
The illiteracy rate of the Domincan Republic decreased from 16.4% in 2000 to 15.6% in 2002 while in Latin America it decreased from a rate of 12.7% to 11.4%.
UASD, the oldest university in the Americas and the largest public university in the Dominican Republic (150,000 students) estimates that only 30% of enrollees graduate.
Public Health
In 2002, the rate of infant mortality in the Dominican Republic was 43 per 1000 live births, but only 33 in Latin America (U.S.: -7.0).
The Department of Parasitology reports that 72% of children in public schools have parasites.
The Deputy Secretary of Health and Nutrition stated that 29% of school children between ages 5 and 14 suffer from anemia.
Infants and children often suffer from poor hygiene, anemia, malnutrition, parasites, and lack of treatment.
La Altagracia, the largest maternity hospital in the capital, reports that 27% of the children born in 2004 were to adolescents between 11 and 19 years old.
The Secretary of Health stated that 25 out of every 100 patients that enter hospitals leave with noscomial infections.
Public hospitals are plagued by poor conditions, lack of beds, equipment, and medicines, and corruption.
Patients often must buy their own medications.
There is a $25 million (US) dollar market in counterfeit medicines.
Violence against Women
In the first six months of this year, more than 1,000 crimes and 309 rapes committed against women were reported.
The study “Violence Against Women in the Dominican Republic” found that 24% of Dominican women between ages 15 and 49 have been physically abused at least one time. This rate goes up to 40% for women separated or divorced.
