Economic hardship has put Nicaragua's health care system on the sick list

Since Nicaraguans elected a conservative government to replace the Sandinistas in 1990, hospitals and health clinics have seen their budgets slashed and staff cut, and medical supplies have grown scarce. The poor are dying of treatable illnesses such as pneumonia and other respiratory infections, and malnutrition and mortality rates are rising. This report from the Central American country outlines how economic hardship has taken its toll on Nicaragua's health system in the 1990s.