Infant mortality was 4.6 per 1,000 live births in 2000. Well below the US rate of 6.9, Massachusetts ranked fiftieth in infant mortality. Also, in 1999, there were 26,852 abortions, for a rate of 19 per 1,000 women, above the US rate of 14 per 1,000 women,.
The overall death rate was 913.6 per 100,000 population in 2000, higher than the US rate of 873.1. In the same year, the major causes of death and their rates per 100,000 population were heart diseases, 246.8; cerebrovascular diseases, 56.6; accidents and adverse effects, 22.6; and suicide, 6.2. The rate of HIV-related deaths stood at 3.6 per 100,000 population, below the national rate of 5.3. A total of 17,008 AIDS cases had been reported through 2001.
Programs for treatment and rehabilitation of alcoholics are administered by the Division of Alcoholism of the Department of Health, under the Executive Office of Human Services. The Division of Communicable Disease Control operates venereal disease clinics throughout the state and provides educational material to schools and other groups. The Division of Drug Rehabilitation administers drug treatment from a statewide network of hospital agencies and self-help groups. The state also runs a lead-poisoning prevention program. Among persons ages 18 and older, 20.0% were current smokers in 2000.
In Massachusetts, all health-care facilities are registered by the Department of Public Health. The Division of Health Care Quality inspects and licenses hospitals, clinics, school infirmaries, and blood banks every two years. Licensing of nursing homes is also under its control. The state's 80 community hospitals had 766,708 admissions and 16,504 beds in 2001. There were 26,504 full-time registered nurses and 1,765 full-time licensed practical nurses in 2001 and 448 physicians per 100,000 population in 2000. The average expense of a community hospital for care was $1,889.80 per inpatient day in 2001.
Federal government grants to cover the Medicare and Medicaid services in 2001 totaled $3.6 billion; 961,409 enrollees received Medicare benefits that year. Only 8.2% of the population was uninsured in 2002.
Four prominent medical schools are located in the state: Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, and the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine.