Health in Nicaragua

Health in Nicaragua is influenced by several factors including public health policies, the availability of healthcare facilities, environmental influences, individual lifestyle choices, and socioeconomic circumstances.

Nicaragua ranks as the second-least affluent nation in the Western Hemisphere.^[1] Despite the challenges Nicaragua faces in improving public health, there has been a notable increase in life expectancy since the Sandanista Revolution of 1979, when it stood as low as 55 years old.^[2] In comparison, life expectancy in Nicaragua at birth was 72 years for men and 78 for women in 2016.^[3] While communicable diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika continue to persist as national health concerns, there is a rising public health threat of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, which were diseases previously thought to be more relevant and problematic for more developed nations.^[4] Additionally, in the women's health sector, high rates of adolescent pregnancy and cervical cancer continue to persist as national concerns.^[5] The infrastructure surrounding healthcare in Nicaragua faces challenges that may contribute to the exacerbation of health issues and hinder sustainable improvements. In the process of Nicaragua's democratization, there has been a general decrease in funding allocated to public services, coinciding with an increasing prevalence of privatization in healthcare, including both primary and secondary care.^[6] Hence, access to healthcare (and states of health) varies considerably between urban and rural areas, as well as among different socioeconomic groups.^[7]

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative^[8] finds that Nicaragua is fulfilling 96.1% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income.^[9] When looking at the right to health with respect to children, Nicaragua achieves 98.6% of what is expected based on its current income.^[10] In regards to the right to health amongst the adult population, the country achieves only 89.7% of what is expected based on the nation's level of income. ^[11] Nicaragua falls into the "good" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the nation is fulfilling 100.0% of what the nation is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.^[12]