The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #43724

Samuel Enos, MD, Director of District Medical Services, Kassena-Nankana District, Ghana Ministry of Health, Box 320, Navrongo, Upper East Region, Ghana, 233-742-22310, senos@navrongo.mimcom.net

Infanticide is a common, difficult to measure phenomenon that has occurred throughout history. Social institutions supporting infanticide are complex and poorly understood, but may have evolved in response to recognition of overpopulation or social hardships that arise from deformity, mental illness, or twin-ship. Two alternate views of infanticide are that parents may kill babies, believing they are dangerous, or cope with the likely death of children by viewing them as not fully human, a belief that often leads to negligence and underinvestment.

Infanticide practices in West Africa demonstrate both the “danger” of babies as well as their status as being not fully human. This paper reports on an investigation into the phenomenon of spirit children among the Kassena-Nankana of northern Ghana, where their murder explains 2.5 percent of child-deaths in the Kasena-Nankana district.

The belief in spirit children found among the Kasena-Nankana is similar to that found throughout West Africa. Deaths or other misfortunes that befall a family may be blamed on a child suspected of being a spirit who is killed to prevent further harm to the family. Death of a mother during childbirth is one of the common signs that her child is dangerous. Such an infant is “tested” by being forced to consume an herbal concoction which leads to liver or renal failure and sure death of a newborn. This paper reports on an analysis of demographic surveillance data on child survival following maternal mortality and a qualitative study of the belief among families in Kassena-Nankana district.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be able to

• Discuss the prevalence of the spirit child belief throughout West Africa in general and in Ghana in particular.
• Alert others to the impact of the spirit child belief on child survival in areas where the custom of sprit child infanticide is practiced.
• Recommend possible interventions to stop the deaths of suspected spirit children.

Keywords: Children's Health, International MCH

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.