220 in 1950 to 43 in 1968. Data on the number of deaths from heart
ailments, cancer, and other causes were not published.

Although progress was made in reducing mortality among children up to
one year of age--from 121.2 per 1,000 live births in 1950 to 75.2 in
1968--the rate remained unusually high. Failure to obtain timely medical
assistance was given as the primary cause of death by health
authorities. Malnutrition, shortages of professional medical personnel,
and insufficient health facilities were also contributing factors. The
rate for cities in 1968 was 65.4 as compared with 78.0 in rural areas.
Some areas in the mountains of the north ran as high as 136.9 during the
1963-67 period. About three-fourths of all infant deaths occurred during
the first six months after birth. In 1960 only 34 percent of infant
deaths were diagnosed; by 1967 the percentage had increased to 65.
Medical aid by a physician or midwife was provided for about 99 percent
of births in cities; in rural areas approximately 61 percent of births
were with medical assistance.

There were indications that some segments of the population, those in
remote and most poverty-stricken areas, were in poor health. A 1968-69
study of 1,580 children up to three years of age in thirteen northern
localities, reported by the Ministry of Health, showed that 60 percent
suffered from neuromuscular disorders in various degrees and that 47
percent suffered from rickets. The principal causes for these
abnormalities, according to the official study, were malnutrition and
unsatisfactory hygienic-sanitary conditions.

Health and medical organizations from national to local levels were
under the Ministry of Health. In the 1960s the departments of the
ministry were: epidemiology, pharmaceuticals, sanitary inspectorate,
medical prophylactic institutions, personnel, administration, finance,
and planning. Data for 1968 reported by the minister of health listed
facilities countrywide as: 196 hospitals and other facilities with beds;
11,922 beds for medical use; 1,108 first aid stations and polyclinics;
and 36 dispensaries and tuberculosis centers. The average annual
increase in hospital beds from 1950 to 1968 was 323; in 1968 there was 1
bed for every 169 inhabitants.

The total number of persons employed in health and medicine increased
from 9,881 in 1960 to 14,370 in 1967. The numbers of professional and
semiskilled workers in 1969 were: physicians, 1,396; stomatologists