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Summary
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This bulletin summarizes trends, causes and preventive strategies for infant mortality in the South West.
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Infant mortality rates are widely used for monitoring social inequalities in health and national data suggests that the gap between the rich and poor for infant mortality may be widening across the UK.
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Although the small number of infant deaths makes local monitoring of infant mortality difficult, monitoring its risk factors is feasible and can be achieved realistically by strengthening local data collection.
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Healthy children are vital for the future of any society.
Children tend to be most vulnerable in their first year of life when their health is influenced not only by their own physical condition but also by the social and environmental conditions of the household, and of the wider community. Infant mortality (deaths in the first year of life) is the most widely available and robust measure of infant health. The fall in infant mortality rates in the developed world has limited its
usefulness as a summary measure of overall population health; however, the strong relationship between infant mortality and socio-economic conditions1 has ensured its continued and widespread use in monitoring social inequalities in health. Combined with the fact that preventing early deaths offers an effective approach to increasing life expectancy within a population, monitoring of infant mortality rates remains a key component of effective public health action.
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- Contacts:
(both South West Public Health Observatory)
Sanjay Kinra
, Lecturer in Epidemiology & Public Health Medicine
Helen Cooke
, Public Health Information Specialist
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