Child Death Grief a Public Health Threat

An eight-month-old boy is examined by a doctor in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS By External SourceNAIROBI, Feb 27 2020 (IPS) Grief over the loss of a child poses a threat to public health in Sub-Saharan Africa, as nearly two-thirds of mothers in some countries suffer the death of at least one child, a study has found. According to the World Health Organization, 5.3 million children under five died in 2018 globally. The risk of a child dying before reaching five is about eight times higher in Africa than in Europe. According to the study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, more than half of women aged 45 to 49 years in some Sub-Saharan African countries have experienced the death of a child under the age of five. “In Benin, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, and Niger, having had at least one infant die was a more common experience than having had all of one’s children survive infancy,” the study explains. 5.3 million children under five died in 2018 globally. The risk of a child dying before reaching five is about eight times higher in Africa than in Europe “In no country has the [total infant deaths] fallen below 100 per 1000 for mothers age 45 to 49, and only in Benin, Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe has it fallen below 200 per 1000.” Researchers analysed the prevalence of infant and child deaths for every 1000 mothers using demographic and health surveys over a 30-year period, from 20 countries. “In...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Headlines Health Human Rights Source Type: news