The United Nation’s International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has published a report on the state of the world’s children. According to the report, around 9.7 million children in the world die before they reach the age of five. While 270 out of a thousand children die in Sierra Leone, in Turkey this number stands at 26.

In Turkey there is still a marked difference in the education of girls and boys, shown in the statistics for literacy, primary school and high school registration. 18 percent of children are married underage.

Decrease in child mortality 

In terms of deaths of under five-year olds, Turkey ranks 96th. In 1990, 82 out of 1,000 children died before that age in Turkey, but in 2006 this number fell to 26.

As far as deaths of under one-year olds are concerned, the rate was 67 in a thousand, while it decreased to 24 in a thousand by 2006.

Between 1999 and 2006, only 16 percent of the children born with lower than average birth weight were breastfed, and of these only 21 percent only for six months.

Health statistics 

• According to data from 2004, 96 percent of Turkey’s population has access to healthy drinking water.
• 12 percent of Turkey’s population lacks access to sufficient health services.
• The rate of immunisation against various illnesses among one-year olds ranges from 82 to 98 percent.
• The official number of people carrying the HIV/AIDS virus in Turkey in 2005 was below 2,000.

Gender inequality in education

• Between 2000 and 2006, 96 percent of school age boys were registered at primary school, compared to 91 percent of the girls. 89 percent of the children persist in their schooling.
• While 83 percent of the boys in the relevant age group continue into high school, the rate among girls is only 68 percent.
• Between 1999 and 2006, the rate of working children aged 5-14 was five percent. The rate of children married was 18 percent.

Turkey’s average life expectancy has steadily increased over the last decades: In 1970s it was 56, in 1990 it was 65, and in 2006 it had risen to 72 years. (GG/AG)