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3. Strengthening Health Systems

Table 3.3: Health Indicators by Country Level of Constraint

Health Indicators by Country Level of Constraint
Indicator	Unit	Most constrained countries^a	Other countries
Total population (in 2000)	Millions	401	3,525
Population living on less than US$1/day	Millions	123 (9 countries)	886 (29 countries)
Population living on less than US$1/day	Percent^b	30	25
Population living on less than US$2/day	Millions	192 (9 countries)	2,128 (30 countries)
Population living on less than US$2/day	Percent^b	48	60
Physicians	Per 100,000 population	8.9	101.7
Nurses	Per 100,000 population	39.6	208.7
Hospital beds	Per 1,000 population	0.78	3.00
Maternal mortality	Per 100,000 births	1,134	565
Births with skilled attendant	Percent	30.6	59.8
Low birthweight infants	Percent	16.4	13.9
Infant mortality (in 1998)	Per 1,000 live births	105.3	61.2
Mortality among children under five	Per 1,000 live births	171.2	91.9
Measles immunization coverage	Percent	48.4	75.3
Diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus immunization coverage	Percent	40.3	76.3
TB Directly observed therapy short course (DOTS) detection	Percent	31.15	42.10
TB DOTS treatment success	Percent	68.4	77.1
Number of countries included	n.a.	20	59

Source: Ranson, Hanson, and Mills 2003.

n.a. = not applicable.

Note: Calculations were performed for a constraints index with up to three missing variables. Values for missing variables were imputed using a method described in the source.

a. These are the bottom quartile of countries, according to the constraints indicators, compiled into an index. The constraints index was calculated by normalizing each of the variables (subtracting the mean and dividing by the standard deviation) and then summing the normalized values. This calculation gives each variable equal weight in the index.

b. These averages are population weighted, whereas all other means in the table are unweighted.

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3. Strengthening Health Systems

Table 3.3: Health Indicators by Country Level of Constraint

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