Sociocultural Factors Associated With Infant And Child Survival In An African Community

CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION1.1    BACKGROUND TO THE STUDYInfant Mortality Rate (IMR), a measure of child survival, is considered to be one of the strongest indications of a country’s well being, as it reflects social, economic and environmental conditions in which children (and others in society) live, including their health care. (Alderman and Behrman, 2004: vii).Infant and child mortality remain disturbingly high in developing countries despite the significant decline in most parts of the world. The state of the world’s children indicated that about 12.9 million children die every…