About uzbekistan

About Uzbekistan. Social sphere.
Expenses on developing social sphere and social protection of population account for the biggest article in the expenditures part of the state budget of Uzbekistan. In 2004, they accounted for 11.1% in relation to GDP.
In general, education, culture, art, science and scientific services account for 13.4% of the employed in the economy, while healthcare, physical training, and social security employ 7.6% of the total employed, and housing-communal services and paid services for population account for 3% of the total number of people employed in the economy.
Uzbekistan is one of few developing countries in the world, where practically all population is literate. Share of adults with secondary-special, vocational, and higher education exceeds 15%. In 2004 the system of public education counted 9.8 thousand general educational schools (with 6,151.4 thousand students), 65 academic lyceums (with 30.5 thousand students), 827 vocational colleges (with 757.6 thousand students), 63 higher educational schools (263.6 thousand students), and significant number of institutions of pre-school, post-university and other types of education. The main goals, stated in the National program of training specialists and in Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "About Education", are those aimed to improve quality of all stages of education and shift to compulsory, free twelve-year education.
Uzbekistan has a great potential in the sphere of healthcare. In particular, in such indicator as number of physicians per 10 thousand people, Uzbekistan (29) outnumbers the world average by almost twice. The ratio of births, attended by skilled healthcare personnel (96%), share of children, fully immunized against measles (99%), diphtheria, hoping-cough, and tetanus (98%) in Uzbekistan is not only higher than world averages (57, 77 and 78 percents respectively) but also is one of the highest in the world. Healthcare services in Uzbekistan are widely accessible, and main part of those services is provided for free. The very fact that 2005 was declared "The year of health" testifies on the special attention paid by the government to health of the population.