TAJIKISTAN: Country tops Central Asia infant mortality rate

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ANKARA, 29 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - Tajikistan has the highest rate of under five child mortality among the Central Asian states, with 78 deaths per 1000 live births, according to a survey by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"Nutrition-related issues and several prenatal diseases [contracted] during delivery are contributing to the high level of infant mortality," Sabir Kurbanov, UNICEF's health and nutrition adviser, told IRIN on Monday from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.

The UNICEF study shows that there are some 170,000 new births in the ex-Soviet republic each year. But 106 out of 1,000 live births do not reach the age of five.

"[UNICEF's] statistics are almost three times higher that official [rates]," he noted, explaining that this discrepancy was because of a difference in the definition of live births - the Tajik definition is not in line with international standards. There is also under-reporting of infant mortality cases, given that some families do not register their children's birth or death.

The survey results identify acute respiratory infections as one of the main factors increasing the number of deaths among babies - 20 percent of them die of pneumonia. Diarrhoea, caused by the poor quality of the water, kills 12 percent of the children.

In addition, the UNICEF official noted that mothers were breastfeeding babies for less than six months, which was causing malnutrition among infants. "UNICEF is fighting for exclusive breastfeeding at least until six to eight months of age, and for proper complementary feeding till the age of two," he added.

Another factor contributing to the high level of infant mortality was the poor access to healthcare in several regions of Tajikistan, which forced women to deliver their children at home, causing maternal mortality to remain high in the country, the UNICEF official said. The highest rate of home delivery has been reported in the Khatlon province, the survey said.

"Sixty percent of the population in Tajikistan are living below the poverty line and they don't have access to healthcare," Kurbanov said, noting that the government recognised home delivery as a problem and had started to develop new policies.
He explained that there were plans to organise training on health issues to ensure that each home birth was attended by health personnel. "The goal is to provide a safe environment for home delivery," he added.

[ENDS]