United Nations

               ACC Task Force on Basic Social Services for All


                                  OCEANIA



                                    Maternal
                                    mortality
                                      ratio      Mortality
                       Underweight   (per          rate           Life
                       prevalence     100,100   (per 1,000      expectancy 
                        under 5        live      live births     (years)
                         (%)           births)   1990-1995      1990-1995
                       1990-1996      1990     infant under 5  female male
                       ---------    ---------  ------ -------  ------ ----

Australia (3)               ..           9        7       8      81    75
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Fiji                         8          90       23      26      74    70
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French Polynesia            ..          ..       11      19      74    68
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Guam                        ..          ..       11      13      76    72
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New Caledonia               ..          ..       22      25      75    70
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New Zealand                 ..          25        9      10      79    73
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Papua New Guinea            35 (*)     930       68      89      57    55
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Samoa                       ..          35       64      72      69    66
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Solomon Islands             21 (*)      ..       27      32      73    68
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Vanuatu                     20 (*)     280       47      58      67    63
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Notes:

Data are shown only for countries or areas with population size of 150,000
or more in 1995 as estimated by Population Division of Department for
Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis of the United Nations
Secretariat (Population Division/DESIPA).  Two dots (..) indicate that data
are not available.


(3) Including Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands,
    and Norfolk Island.  


Underweight prevalence among preschool children

  The percentage of children under 5 years of age who have a weight that
  is more than two standard deviations below the median weight-for-age of
  the standard NCHS reference population.  Data are for the latest
  available year, and those before 1990 are shown with an (*).  Age ranges
  for preschool children vary by country, but the majority of data are for
  children under age 5.  Variations in the age ranges do not have an
  important effect on the results shown here.  From "The worldwide
  magnitude of protein-energy malnutrition: an overview from the WHO
  Global Database on Child Growth,"  Bulletin of the World Health
  Organization, 1993, vol. 71, pp. 703-712; the WHO Global Database
  on Child Growth and Malnutrition (WHO, WHO/NUT/96.11) and updates
  from the database; The State of the World's Children 1997 (UNICEF).

Maternal mortality ratio

  The number of deaths of women occurring over a year while pregnant,
  or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the
  cause of death, per 100,000 live births in that year.  The data were
  prepared by World Health Organization and United Nations Children's
  Fund, and are taken from Revised 1990 Estimates of Maternal Mortality:
  A New Approach (WHO/UNICEF). 

Infant mortality rate and under-5 mortality rate

  The probability of dying before age 1 and the probability of dying
  before age 5 per 1,000 newborns.  Estimated by the Population
  Division/DESIPA.  From World Population Prospects: the 1996 Revision
  (United Nations publication, forthcoming) and supplementary tabulations.

Life expectancy at birth

  The average number of years that a newborn could expect to live,
  if he or she were to pass through life subject to the age-specific
  mortality rates of a given period, estimated by the Population
  Division/DESIPA.  From World Population Prospects: the 1996 Revision
  (United Nations publication, forthcoming).


United Nations publication, (ST/ESA/SER.A/160)
Copyright (C) United Nations 1997