Definition
Infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths, defined as children under the age of 1 year old, per 1,000 live births in a given year. Infant mortality is used as a major health indicator globally because it is associated with numerous factors that determine a country’s overall level of health that include maternal health, prenatal care access, healthcare system quality and access, public health practices, and socioeconomic conditions.
Description
Another indicator used to measure the health status of a country is the under five mortality rate. The under five mortality rate is the probability of a child born in a specific year or period dying before the age of 5, expressed as a number per 1,000 live births. The World Health Organization (WHO) Millennium Development Goals (MDG) has identified the reduction of under five mortality rate by two thirds as goal number 4 to be achieved by 2015.
Variations in infant mortality rates and under five mortality rates are monitored...
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References and Readings
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Baumann, L.C., Karel, A. (2013). Infant Mortality. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_119
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_119
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
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