 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Henry B. Perry, MD, Hospital Albert Schweitzer, Haiti, 102 Magellan Dr., Suite 101, Sarasota, FL 34243, 941-752-1525, henry.perry@starband.net
Information regarding rates of mortality and their determinants for children in urban areas of the developing world is limited. The lack of such information is an increasingly serious problem in light of the rapidly growing urban population in developing countries. The current study represents one attempt to increase our understanding of the levels and determinants in urban child mortality in the developing world.
From 1995 until 1998, the Urban Operations Project of the ICDDRB: International Centre for Health and Population Research carried out a longitudinal household survey in one section of Dhaka City, visiting approximately 6,000 households every three months.
An analysis of this data set reveals that 58% of the deaths occurred during the perinatal period. For the lowest quartile of households, as defined by monthly household income or by household possessions, under-5 mortality rates were 3-4 times higher than for households in the highest quartile. Inequalities in mortality were highest for the 1-11-month age group, where the mortality for the lowest SES group was eight times higher. Inequalities in childhood mortality in Dhaka are much greater than in rural Bangladesh. Acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) was the leading final cause of death. Only 23% of deaths occurred in a health facility.
These findings demonstrate the importance of the perinatal period for under-5 mortality, the importance of ALRI as a cause of death, the marked inequalities (if not inequities) in childhood mortality, and the lack of access to care for seriously ill children for one poor urban area.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Access to Health Care, Child Health
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.