Blog 3: Infant Mortality in China Has Significant Decrease

Infant mortality in China has significantly improved since 1996. Research shows that there were 24.7 deaths of newborns in China for every 1,000 live births in 1996, but by 2008 that figure had fallen to 9.3 for every 1,000. As other countries may encourage the presence of more trained health workers to assist in home deliveries, China has encouraged more hospital deliveries rather than home deliveries. Thus, the Chinese government decided to improve the hospitals to resolve the issue. Deaths in the first month of life fell 62 per cent, according to the analysis published in Friday's online issue of the medical journal The Lancet. Certain regions in the nation, however, still remain with high rates of infant mortality. Babies born in poorer rural areas are almost four times more likely to die than those born in urban hospitals.

I think this is a great improvement in China's health care. It is good to see such a drastic change in the infant deaths in a short period of time. Not only is this an advance in the nation's health outlook, but also for the nation's job market. Since China has improved their hospitals, more jobs have opened up, decreasing the unemployment. Though the hospitals have improved, there are still regions within the nation that need development. This shows that socioeconomic status has an impact on the health of these infants as well. Those born in urban hospitals may have better resources which would provide the mother with better maternal nutrition. This is an example of how social and economical stratification have an effect on individuals globally.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/09/16/china-infant-deaths.html