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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Jacob A. Adetunji, PhD, Office of Population, Bureau for Global Health, USAID, GH/POP/P&E, Rm. 3.06-25, RRB, Washington, DC 20523, 202 712-4095, jadetunji@usaid.gov
Nigeria has passed through various social, political and economic crises since independence about 42 years ago. These crises provide a backdrop against which an assessment of trends and regional differentials in infant and child mortality rates is presented.
The objectives of the paper are: to assess infant and under-five mortality trends in the country vis-à-vis the set target in the 1988 National Policy on Population; discuss how the political and economic crises in the country affected the trends; and analyze the determinants of the regional disparity in child survival.
Although the assessment of trends in infant and under-five mortality relies on published and unpublished materials, data from the 1999 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey were analyzed using the logistic regression technique to assess the effects socioeconomic and bio-demographic variables on the wide regional differentials in infant and child mortality rates in the country.
The results show that the rates of decline in infant and under-five mortality rates in Nigeria were very slow – an average of 1% per annum since 1960. The estimated levels of infant and under-five mortality were 4-7 times higher than the set targets for the year 2000. Wide regional disparities exist in infant and child mortality – after adjusting for the effects of socioeconomic and demographic factors, infant mortality rates were still 40-50% higher in the two northern regions while the rates of under-five mortality rates were about twice that observed in the southern and central regions. The implications of these findings are discussed and policy recommendations offered.
Learning Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will be able to
Keywords: Children's Health, Infant Mortality
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.