The public medical services of Côte d'Ivoire are more important than the small number of private physicians and clinics. In 2004, there were an estimated 9 physicians, 31 nurses, and 15 midwives per 100,000 people. About 77 percent of the population had access to safe water in 2000. Total health care expenditures were estimated at 3.7 percent of GDP.

Endemic diseases
Malaria, yellow fever, sleeping sickness, yaws, leprosy, trachoma, and meningitis are endemic. A broad program was set up in 1961 to control these and other diseases; compulsory vaccination against smallpox and yellow fever was instituted, efforts by mobile health units to track down cases and provide treatment were intensified, and general health measures were tightened both within the country and at the borders. In 1999, the country immunized children up to one year old as follows: diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 62 percent, and measles, 62 percent. Malnutrition affected 24 percent of children under five years old.

HIV/AIDS
The HIV/AIDS in Côte d'Ivoire prevalence was 0.60 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 570,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 47,000 deaths from AIDS in 2003.

The high incidence of HIV/AIDS is attributed to a lack of HIV education programs.

Life rates
Approximately 60 percent of females underwent female genital mutilation. The birth rate in 1999 was 41.8 per 1,000. The infant mortality rate in 2005 was 90.83 per 1,000 live births, and 14 percent of all births were classified as low weight. In 2005, average life expectancy in Côte d’Ivoire was estimated at 48.62