Child Mortality In India
Child Malnutrition and Mortality : Evidence from a Cross-Country Analysis
Abstract
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) call for a two-thirds reduction in the mortality rate among children under age five between 1990 and 2015. Accurate and timely estimates of under-five mortality are needed to help countries set priorities, design programmes to reduce mortality, and monitor progress towards the MDG4.
Developing these estimates poses a considerable challenge because of the limited data available for many developing countries and lack of agreement on the best way to calculate child mortality levels and trends.
The paper is divided into two sections. Firstly, the determinants of Child Mortality are examined. It specifically examines how child mortality is related to the household’s environmental and socio-economic characteristics, such as female literacy, total fertility, per capita GDP, per capita expenditure on health care facilities, physicians available per lakh of population and population living below the national poverty line. A multiple linear regression model is used to analyze the effects of different factors on under-five mortality rate. Reduction of Child mortality as a part of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been discussed and the performance of different countries in this respect has been investigated. A household’s environmental and socio-economic characteristics are found to have significant impact on child mortality. Policies aimed at achieving the goal of reduced child mortality should be directed on improving the household’s environmental and or socio-economic status if this goal is to be realized.
The second part of the paper deals with the performance of India in respect to Child Mortality, the developments in the country overtime and the trends for the future.Under-five infant mortality rates in India have fallen to 73 per 1,000 live births in 2006, from 94 per 1,000 in 1990. That's a 22% decline,...
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