In its response to a 2003 UN survey of population policies, the Government of Ecuador viewed its fertility rate as too high, its maternal mortality ratio as unacceptably high and ageing of the population (7.7 per cent are 60 years of age and older) as a potential problem.
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Adolescent pregnancies are increasing. One fifth of all adolescent girls have had at least one pregnancy by the age of 19. Early pregnancies are common among girls living in rural areas and the Amazon Region and among those with little or no education.
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Over the last five years the HIV infection rate has accelerated by 224 per cent, and some 20,000 people are estimated to be HIV positive by UNAIDS. (The government's official numbers are lower. They estimate 6,500 HIV-positive individuals, and an infection rate among 15-24 year olds of 0.23 per cent.
