The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that Turkmenistan is fulfilling 74.9% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income. In 2016,

life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...

for males in Turkmenistan was 65 and for females 72 years. The most common causes of death in Turkmenistan are

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, and respiratory disease. Major health factors are poor diet, polluted

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

, and the industrial and agricultural pollutants that are especially concentrated in the northeastern areas near the Amu Darya River and the

Aral Sea The Aral Sea ( ; kk, Арал теңізі, Aral teñızı; uz, Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi; kaa, Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi; russian: Аральское море, Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic basin, endorheic lake lyi ...

. The reported occurrence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been less than 0.1 percent. However, sharp increases in

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

through Turkmenistan are likely to increase that figure substantially.Turkmenistan country profile

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...

(February 2007). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

.'' President

Saparmurat Niyazov Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov; tk, Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow, in Cyrillic: Сапармырат Атаевич Ныязов (19 February 1940 – 21 December 2006), also known as Turkmenbashi, was a Turkmen politician who rule ...

constructed the

Walk of Health The Walk of Health ( tk, Saglyk ýoly, lit, health trail) is a long concrete walkway that runs alongside the Kopet Dag mountain range in south Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, near the Iran–Turkmenistan border. The first of the path was constructed i ...

, a 36 kilometre concrete stairway running along the Kopet Dag mountains, which was intended to improve the health of citizens. All ministers, members of parliament and civil servants were ordered to walk the length of it once a year. The sale of tobacco products in the country was banned by president

Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedow Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow (born 29 June 1957), also known as Arkadag (Cyrillic: Аркадаг, "protector"), is a Turkmen politician who served as the second president of Turkmenistan from 2006 to 2022. A dentist by profess ...

in January 2016. A fine of 6,900 manats is imposed on any shop selling cigarettes. Atadurd Odmanov, the head of the

State Service for Protecting the Security of a Healthy Society State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, was earlier stripped of the rank of Colonel because of his failure to persuade smokers to quit.

References

{{Asia topic, Health in

See also

References