COLLEGE
OF WESTERN IDAHO
Global
Child Mortality Rates
Jennifer
Helmick
English
102- 011W
Leslie
Jewkes
5/5/13
Abstract
My
research shows what solutions there are to child mortality rates on a global
level. To obtain these results interviews, databases, books and the web have
all helped. The research explains the major causes of death and how those
situations can also be prevented. The large implications of my findings were
that the mortality rate is continually decreasing.
Jennifer Helmick
English 102
Global Essay Final
5 May 2013
Global Child
Mortality Rates
Child mortality is more recognized on a global level
rather than specifically in the United States. The child mortality rate is the
highest in low-income countries that lack sanitation and emergency services are
supplies. Most deaths in third world countries are disregarded because poor
families cannot afford to register their children in the government system (“Fighting
Child Mortality”). Child death is a normal thing in certain areas when it
should not even be a problem. A child is at a higher risk during the first
twenty eight days of his life. Due to this situation, care is needed during and
right after the child’s birth. If help is received during this time a
significant amount of deaths can be prevented. Child mortality is a large
globally known issue that can be solved by providing high-impact health and
nutrition interventions.
According to the UNICEF, most child deaths result from:
malaria, measles, diarrhea, acute respiratory infections and malnutrition. It
is sad to know that approximately 29,000 under the age of five die daily from these
preventable sicknesses (Hill). More than 70% of the almost 11 million child
deaths every year can also be related to: neonatal infections, pneumonia,
preterm delivery or lack of oxygen at birth (“Goal: Reduce Child Mortality”). The help that is
needed is out there, but it is difficult to come by due to the environmental
issues where most of these deaths occur. High travel costs, lost labor, and a
withdrawal of socioeconomic benefits are factors as to why deaths may not be
reported to government vital statistic agencies within a country (Cullen). It
is hard for the needed assistance to get to these areas because of money shortages and
some areas are near impossible to access. In 2009, there were 31 countries reported in which at least 10% of
children under five died. All were in Africa,
except for Afghanistan. The highest 10 were: Chad, Afghanistan,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali, Somalia, Central
African Republic, Burkina Faso and Burundi (Nations). These are all countries
that citizens in the United States know very little about. Many countries seem
divided and if they all work together it would be beneficial for reducing
problems like child mortality. If all of the countries supported one another
there would not be such a high need for help.
Various deaths can occur from
illnesses such as measles, malaria or tetanus (Hill). Others result from marginalization,
conflict and HIV/AIDS. Two huge contributors to half of the children’s death
include malnutrition and the lack of safe, sanitary water. Disease is not
inevitable, nor do children with these sicknesses and issues need to die.
Research and experience show that six million of the almost eleven million
children who pass away each year could be saved by low-tech, cost-effective
measures (“Goal: Reduce Child
Mortality”). These include vaccines, antibiotics, insecticide bed nets,
nutrition supplementation, breastfeeding practices and improved family care (Mikkel).
To help these problems it is crucial to provide correct health and nutrition,
improve family care and increase access to enhanced water and sanitation. Most
importantly, there needs to be a quicker response time in emergency situations.
Social and biomedical research has indicated that infant
and child mortality rates are important indicators of a nation’s health status
and well-being (Spiliopoulou). If a nation has a significant amount of child
deaths then its health status is obviously going to be very poor. According to
a local doctor Tina McGuffey, “it is hard to give people the help they need
when there is little help that is being offered.” In the article by
Spiliopoulou, on the bottom of the list it specifies countries such as Angola,
Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Liberia and Somalia, as having vast numbers of
attrition within local population due to continuous civil wars and ethnic
cleansing. In some cases it can become clear that political issues may
establish a specifically non-medical reason behind the increase in infant and
child mortality rates. There are some underlying causes of child mortality that
can be hard to understand but in order to fix a problem all the causes must be
discovered.
What needs to be improved is how to practically carry out
the effective solutions. The current rate of decline is always showing
improvement which gives hope that one day child mortality will not be a
significant problem in the world. It is possible to provide the help needed,
since officials know exactly what needs to be done. Providing high-impact
health and nutrition interventions will decrease rates dramatically. If the
families have what they need to take care of their children then they will have
the knowledge to keep their babies safe. Volunteering can also extensively help
rates diminish.
Works
Cited
Cullen,
Mark R, Clint Cummins, and Victor R Fuchs. "Geographic And Racial Variation
In Premature Mortality In The U.S.: Analyzing The Disparities." Plos
One 7.4 (2012): e32930. MEDLINE. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.
"Fighting Child Mortality." Nature.com. Nature Publishing
Group, 9 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.
"Goal: Reduce Child Mortality." UNICEF. Pirozzi, n.d. Web. 05
May 2013.
Hill K, et al. Trends
in child mortality in the developing world: 1990 to 1996, unpublished
report, United Nations Childrens' Fund (UNICEF), New York, January 1998.
McGuffey, Tina. Personal Interview. 3 April. 2013.
Mikkel
Z. Oestergaard, et al. “Child Mortality Estimation: Accelerated Progress In
Reducing Global Child Mortality, 1990-2010. “Plos Medicine 9.8 (2012): 1-11. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.
Nations, Marilyn K., and Mara Lucia Amaral. 1991. Flesh,
Blood, Souls, and Households: Cultural Validity in Mortality Inquiry. Medical
Anthropology Quarterly 5 (3):204-220.
Spiliopoulou,
et al. "Trends In Infant And Child Mortality." Open Forensic
Science Journal 4.(2011): 1-11. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15
Feb. 2013.
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