Infant Mortality in Pakistan
Atiq-ur-Rehman on 23, Jan 2012 | 1 Comment | in Category: Health Talk
Atiq-ur-Rehman
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As the general saying goes, that to rightly know about the health conditions of a country, just have a look at its infant mortality
rate (IMR).
Collectively, the world has an IMR of about 42 i-e, which means that 42 in every thousand infants die each year. It’s not a constant rate though and this rate can be lowered by improvement in health facilities in the under developed and developing countries.
Singapore, Japan, Sweden, United States and Norway are the countries with an IMR of less than 10. The rates have declined in western nations owing to their relentless efforts in provision of better health facilitates to their citizens. On the contrary Afghanistan,
Liberia, Congo, Somalia and other African under develop countries, unfortunately have an IMR of above 150. According to the UN and government reports, in Pakistan, this rate is 77.
Looking at the prime reasons behind this, some of the major are malnutrition, diarrhea, malaria, pneumonia, and measles with fever, congenital diseases and other common infections.
Malnutrition:
Malnutrition simply means either complete absence or partial absence of an important nutrient in a person’s diet. It may be
proteins, vitamins, any chief mineral etc. According to United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, 24 percent (38 millions)
population of Pakistan is malnourished, and due to the current economical conditions and high inflation rates, it’s only increasing
at an alarming rate and 55 % under five age children die because of it.
The main causes of malnutrition in Pakistan are:
- Poor economical conditions, poverty, and high prices of food items
- Poor sanitary and hygiene conditions.
- Two or more children of under 5 age in same family.
- Lack of family planning, immunization
- Lack of education of family members especially mothers.
- Myths and taboos in our societies
Diarrhea:
Diarrhea stand second in line among the factors that consume lives of approximately 15 % of our children under 5 years. Diarrhea causes dehydration of fluids in body as well as electrolyte imbalance and this can prove fatal within hours. Diarrhea, caused by cholera toxin is not a chief cause of death in almost all developed nations however a country like Pakistan and other are under
a constant threat from diarrhea. One of the most important reasons of Diarrhea is contaminated water and poor living conditions.
It can be treated by:
1. Proper vaccination of rotavirus.
2. Good hygiene and sanitary conditions
3. Immediate visit to a medical officer
Malaria:
Malaria is the third in ranking among the fatal diseases for the kids. Malaria is caused by plasmodium a parasite that
is carried by mosquitoes. Some of other symptoms are fever, shivering, flu and anemia, which may range over severe types. Malaria is considered as the deadliest and the most life threatening disease in human history. It was obliterated in 1960’s era but it has slowly and gradually reappeared and haunting our society.
Now, owing to recent floods in the country malaria become contagious and it’s constantly on the rise. Anti-malarial medication can be used to effectively cure this ailment.
Pneumonia:
Pneumonia is one of the deadliest diseases in Pakistan. It’s a lung infection caused by a bacterium that enters lungs through the
nasal airways. The common symptoms are fever, breathlessness, lethargy, headaches, and coughs.
This bacterial disease kills approximately 2 millions children in Pakistan each year. The vaccines available against
pneumonia are very expensive and not commonly accessible to the people.
Measles:
Measles are the last on the list of the most infant-threatening diseases in our country. The main symptoms are red rashes over the body accompanied with fever, muscle pain, cough, sore throat and may be infection of eyes (red swollen eyes). Immunization can prevent measles. According to United Nations report, it’s still a terrible disease that kills every 58 infants per day in Pakistan.
Preventive methods:
- Proper education and proper counseling of mothers can decrease the IMR of Pakistan by about 30 percent.
Good hygiene conditions, a clean environment and balanced diet can help us. - Consulting medical officers on a routine basis.
- Proper immunization of infants as well as mothers during their pregnancy.
- Improvement should be brought in the plan of lady health worker, as it is the best method chosen by our government to fight against health problems Better health plans should be implemented by the government.
Although with the support of UNO and WHO government has taken the initiative to eradicate these common deadly diseases, but it’s not a night dream, it will surely take many more tiresome and serious efforts for next five to ten years to reduce our IMR to a low level
like the developed nations.
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