Health trends
According to the 2000 census, the population of Guam is 154 805. The provisional crude death rate in 2003 was 4.3 per 1000 population, a slight increase from 4.1 in 2002. The provisional infant mortality rate in 2003 was 11.22 per 1000 live births, a significant increase over the infant mortality rate for 2002, which was 6.21 per 1000 live births. Although the health status of Guam’s population continues to improve, the five leading causes of death remain the same.
Guam is faced with the challenge of maintaining a health care system that will adequately meet the needs of a predominantly young and growing population. It is also faced with the added challenge of addressing the problems of the rapidly increasing number of older people, whose number is forecast to increase from 3.9% of the total population in 1990 to 7.5% in 2010.
Health services
A reduction in human and financial resources has severely impacted the health system in Guam. An early retirement programme instituted at the end of 1999 led many experienced health workers to retire; these positions have continued to be funded, but there is not a large enough resource pool to fill all of the positions. Tightening government budgets have left some less critical positions vacant, but these vacancies have reduced the overall amount of services available to the uninsured and underinsured population. These vacancies have also affected the progress on strengthening other health service priority areas, such as disposal of hazardous and toxic materials, environmental protection, vector control, and drug and alcohol abuse services.