This is mainly due to the stress and tension of refugee life, economic constraints, poor nutrition, poor hygiene, poor sanitation, illiteracy among the older generation, the language barrier, and an overall low level of health awareness in the community. According to the Department of Health, the life expectancy for both men and women is above sixty. Infant mortality rates for both male and female infants under one year of age is twenty seven deaths per thousand live births. Child mortality rates for both boys and girls aged from one to four years is twenty five deaths per thousand. As of September 1994, ninety percent of pregnant women were fully immunized against tetanus, and other infections.
Tuberculosis is a major problem.
Over 33,000 cases within the Tibetan refugee community have been reported since 1959. A concerted effort with international assistance has greatly improved TB detection and treatment. Other health problems include dysentery, diarrhoea, hepatitis, skin disorders, and respiratory diseases resulting from unhygienic conditions, malnutrition, and the change of environment after the purity of the Tibetan plateau. Power sharing and decision making HIS Holiness the Dalai Lama has always encouraged women to participate in the administration at all level. The status of Tibetan women was given a further boost in 1988, when a Tibetan woman was appointed as one of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's overseas representatives.