Paraguay

Peru

Country Profile

Suriname


MN Project Home		Bookmarks
Country Index		General
	Picture source: www.cia.gov	Education
Vitamin A		Health
Iron		Food & Diet
Iodine		Indicators

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General

The republic of Peru is located in Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador. In 2002 the population totaled about 27.9 million people, with a population growth rate of 1.7%. The majority of the population is over 14 years of age and the age spread within the population has remained rather constant for the last two decades. Ethnically the population is quite diverse constituting of Amerindian 45%, mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 37%, white 15%, black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3%. Ninety percent of the population is Roman Catholic.

There are three branches of government. The Executive branch consists of the president, two vice presidents, and a Council of Ministers. The President is both Chief of Party and Head of State. The Legislative branch is composed of a unicameral Congress. The Judicial branch consists of a Supreme Court and lower courts. There are twenty four administrative regions. Peru has two official languages--Spanish and the foremost indigenous language, Quechua. Spanish is used by the government and the media and in education and commerce.

Peru’s economy has improved dramatically from the early 1980’s during which hyperinflation helped destroy the economy. During 1980-90, the Gross Domestic Product was negative 0.3 billion US dollars. During the 1990’s the economy turned around and the GDP was 5.4 billion US dollars. “The Peruvian economy has become increasingly market-oriented, with major privatizations completed since 1990 in the mining, electricity, and telecommunications industries. In 1998, El Nino's impact on agriculture, the financial crisis in Asia, and instability in Brazilian markets undercut growth. And 1999 was another lean year for Peru, with the aftermath of El Nino and the Asian financial crisis working its way through the economy. Political instability resulting from the presidential election and President Fujimori’s subsequent departure from office limited economic growth in 2000.” (3) The annual GNP growth rate for 1998-99 was 3.4%.

Education

Under the 1993 constitution, primary education is free and compulsory. The system is highly centralized, with the Ministry of Education appointing all public school teachers. Eighty-three percent of Peru's students attend public schools at all levels. School enrollment has been rising sharply for years, due to a widening educational effort by the government and a growing school-age population. (8) The literacy rate is nationally estimated at 90% with only a slight disparity between males and females. Elementary and secondary school enrollment is approximately 7.7 million. Gross enrollment rates of elementary school are high which declines by about a half for secondary enrollment. Peru's 74 universities, 39% public and 61% private institutions, enrolled about 322,000 students in 1999.

Health

In 1995 the Ministry defined the following policy guidelines for the health sector for the period 1995–2000: universal access to public and individual health care services, and ensuring that the poorest segments of the population have access to a basic package of health services is a priority; modernization of the sector in terms of technology; restructuring of the functions of financing, service delivery, and control in order to develop competitiveness and improve accessibility and quality; prevention and control of urgent health problems; and promotion of healthy living conditions and lifestyles. Between 1992 and 1996, the availability of physicians increased from 7.6 to 9.8 per 10,000 population, that of nursing personnel from 5.2 to 6.2 per 10,000, and that of dentists from 0.7 to 1.1 per 10,000 population. The departments with the highest poverty levels generally have the fewest health workers.

The leading cause of death in children under five year of age is communicable diseases, of which acute respiratory infections and intestinal infectious diseases account for the largest proportions of deaths. In 1992 the leading causes of death in the population aged 15–59 years were infectious diseases, with tuberculosis and acute respiratory infections as the leading causes of mortality. Chagas’ disease is endemic, mostly in the southern areas of Peru. Malaria and cholera are also endemic. Leishmaniasis is present in 24 health subregions—in particular, the mountain and jungle departments. (10)

The infant mortality rate in 2000 was 43.2 deaths per 1,000 live births and the maternal mortality ratio was 270 deaths per 100,000 live births. The percent of births attended by a skilled attendant decreased from 48% in 1985 to 44% in 1990. About 71% of the under one year of age are immunized against measles, and about 72% have received DPT immunizations.

The country’s drinking water supply systems are severely flawed, and, consequently, water is often supplied under poor conditions and the population is forced to get it from other sources. During 1990-96 the World Bank reported that 90% of the population had access to improved water but only 44% of the population had access to improved sanitation.

Food & Diet

The evolution of the nutritional status of children under 5 years old between 1984 and 1996 is marked at the national level by a decline of chronic malnutrition from 37.8% to 25.8% and of overall malnutrition from 13.4% to 7.8%. Wasting or acute malnutrition is not a problem except at very low levels. The improvement has mainly benefited the rural areas and the Sierra (mountain) and Selva (forest) regions, rather than the urban areas and metropolitan Lima, thus reducing existing disparities. The 1993 National Height Census of children between 6 and 9 years old confirmed existence of a problem of stunted growth among 47%. In this case, the greatest differences are found between urban and rural areas, 35% and 64%, respectively. The improvement of the nutritional status, above all beginning in the early nineties, is due in part to larger food availability, easier access to these foodstuffs despite continued high poverty levels, health programs, programs for assistance to needy people, and economic and social policies in general.(9) There are three main staples: rice (19%), wheat (14%), and potatoes (8%). About 13.5% of the total daily caloric intake comes from animal protein and this has remained constant within 1% since 1980.

Peru adopted a national policy to address iron deficiency in 1997. There is legislation covering supplementation for pregnant women and children, as well as fortification of wheat flour. Approximately 39% of pregnant women are anemic and 50% of the children under five years of age are anemic. While there are no marked differences for gender or for place/region of residence, there are age related differences: the prevalence was 77% among infants 6-23 months old, and 33% among 48-59 months olds. Peru adopted Vitamin A legislation in 1999 which focuses on supplementation and fortification. Children under two years of age and women at post-partum period receive Vitamin A supplementation. Approximately 11% of children under five years of age are Vitamin A deficient and a little over 1% of fertile age women are deficient. Iodine deficiency legislation was passed in 1969 making iodization of salt mandatory. As of 2000, all iodized salt is produced in country, with none imported. There is no recent national data on iodine deficiency prevalence.

Indicators

Population

1991

1995

1999

2002

Total (millions)	22.5	24.6	26.5	27.9
< 5 years	13.9%	13.3%	12.2%	11.3%
5-14 years	24.5%	23.6%	23.0%	22.6%
> 14 years	61.6%	63.1%	64.8%	66.1%
Population Growth Rate	1980-90		1990-99
	2.2		1.7
TFR (Total Fertility Rate)	1980		1998
	4.5		3.1
Under- five Mortality Rate	1992		2000
	91.5		60.4
IMR (Infant Mortality Rate)	1992		2000
	63.7		43.2
MMR (deaths per 100,000 live births)	1990-98
	270
% Pregnant Women Immunized against Tetanus	1995-96
	51
DPT Immunization (% < 12 mths)	1995-96
	72
Measles Immunization (% < 12mths)	71
*Economic*
GDP (US $ billions)	1980-90		1990-99
	-0.3		5.4
GNP per capita at PPP	1999
	4,387
GNP annual growth rate	1998-99
	3.4
% Below Poverty Line ($1/day)	1996
	15.5
Public Expenditure on Health (% of GDP)	1990-1998
	2.2
Public Expenditure on Education (% of GDP)	1980		1997
	3.1		2.9
*Education*	1980	1985	1990	1999
Literacy pop. over 15
Females	71	75	79	85
Males	88	90	92	94
Gross Primary School Enrollment (% of age group)
Females	111	118	116	125
Males	117	123	121	127
Gross Secondary School Enrollment (% of age group)
Females	54	60	64	78
Males	63	66	71	83
*Health and Nutrition*
% of Births Attended	1985		1990
	48		44
% Pop. Access Improved Sanitation	1982-85		1990-96
	48		44
% Pop. Access Improved Water	53		80
% Pop. living with HIV/AIDS, (age 15 -49)	1999
	0.35
Weight/Age (% less than –2 z-score)	2000
	7.1
Height/Age (% less than –2 z-score)	25.4
Median Duration Breastfeeding	21.4
Food and Dietary Indices	1980	1990	1995	1999
Total Calories Consumed (kcals/day)	2,045	1,947	2,335	2,611
Animal Sources of food (kcals/day)	14.2%	15.4%	14.8%	13.5%

Sources

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://www.measuredhs.com/data/indicators

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

6. http://genderstats.worldbank.org

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

8. http://www.state.gov

9. http://www.childinfo.org/

10. Europa World Year Book 2001, 42nd edition, 2nd volume

Population

GNP per capita at PPP

Sources