Factors related to infant mortality

Infant mortality is a sensitive indicator of the level of general health of a population and especially of the well-being of mothers and children. There is a high correlation worldwide between gross national product and infant mortality (Davis and Dobbing, 1974). In the low-income countries of Africa and Asia mortality rates 10 times those of industrialized countries in Europe and North America are found. Among low-income as among high-income countries, however, there are large differences in mortality rates. It is not so much the level of the gross national product of a country, as the distribution and the share that goes to the poorer half of the population that seems to have most effect on infant mortality ( Grant, 1982 ). Economic development without simultaneous improvement in social organization, nutrition, hygiene, communications and literacy is likely to raise the infant death rate even more.