Honduras

Country Profile

Picture source: www.cia.gov                

Honduras is recognized as a democratic constitutional republic with eighteen administrative departments.  The President who is elected by a simple majority of voters holds executive power and can serve a single four-year term.  Legislative power is vested in the National Assembly with 128 members who are elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years.

Honduras is considered one of the poorest countries on the western hemisphere with an extraordinary distribution of wealth.  The United States is its major trading partner, especially in coffee, its principal cash crop, thus its dependence on the status of the U.S. economy.  Agriculture constituted an estimated 16% of gross domestic product (GDP) and employed 35% of the economically active population in 1999.  Banana production increased during the 1990’s and following the destruction of Hurricane Mitch in 1999, bananas contributed an estimated 3% of all export earnings.  The main subsistence crops are maize, plantains, beans, rice, sugar cane and citrus fruits.  Exports of shellfish make a significant contribution to foreign exchange.  The GDP increased in real terms at an average annual rate of 3% in 1990-99, however it declined to 1.9% in 1999.

A comparison of the leading causes of death in children under 5, based on the last two epidemiological surveys, reveals that acute respiratory infections continue to be in the forefront, accounting for 22% of deaths in 1991-1992 and 23% in 1996.  The next leading cause is diarrheal diseases, which increased from 19% to 21% during the same time period.  Of every 100 indigenous people born, 68 die of infectious diseases.  In 1993, the estimated life expectancy in this group was 36 years for males and 43 years for females.

The prevalence of diarrheal diseases in children under 5 in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula decreased from 25.5% in 1987 to 18.8% in 1991 and 14.8% in 1996.  In rural areas, the prevalence has been variable (31.9% in 1987, 19.1% in 1991, and 21.1% in 1996). Cholera re-emerged in the country in October 1991, causing a hospital case fatality rate in children under 5 of 4.2% in 1992 and 2.0% in 1996.  In 1995 there were 4,748 cases of cholera nationwide, with a case fatality rate of 1.6% (77 deaths); 56% of the cases were in males and 76% of those occurred in persons aged 15 and over.

Immunization coverage in 12 border municipios averages 60.3%.  Immunization coverage among children under 1 year old was 91 % in 1996.  The rate among children under 5 increased with respect to earlier years, and in 1996 it was 97.3% for the oral polio vaccine, 96.5% for DTP, 98.7% for measles, and 100% for BCG.  By 1995, coverage with two doses of tetanus toxoid in women of childbearing age was 93%.

Sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency affects 13% of the population aged 1-3 years.  The problem is most severe in rural areas in the western and northern regions and in several urban areas.  There are no current data on the prevalence of goiter due to iodine deficiency among schoolchildren (in 1987 the rate was 8.8%); however, iodine level studies conducted in 1995 in sentinel sites suggest that it is not a major problem.  Iron deficiency is prevalent throughout the country.  In 1996, a study found that 30.2% of children between the ages of 1 and 3 years were deficient in iron, while 0.5% of these children were severely anemic.  Furthermore, 26% of women of childbearing age and 32% of pregnant women were classified as anemic.

1.       http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html

2.       http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty/report/

3.       http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

4.       http://apps.fao.org/page/collections?subset=nutrition

5.       http://genderstats.worldbank.org

6.       http://www.undp.org/hdr2002/indicator

7.       http://www.paho.org

8.       Europa World Year Book 2001, 42^nd edition, 1^st volume