Infant Mortality in Zambia - Explaining Proximate Determinants

The importance attached to the study and understanding of infant mortality for any country cannot be overestimated. Infant mortality rate is a sensitive index of socio-economic conditions of a population. It is an excellent indicator of the level and quality of the health delivery system and other infrastructure available to a population. In the past decade, Zambia’s infant mortality rate was/has been one of the highest not just in the Eastern Region of Africa but Sub-Saharan Africa as well. The question begging answers is why was Zambia experiencing such high infant mortality? Infant mortality is influenced by a combination of factors. Amongst these, socio-economic, demographic and environmental aspects are major contributors to the rise in infant mortality. Such a glaring scenario requires effecting measures that aim at making it possible for infant mortality rate to fall or rather reversed. Improvement of one variable should aim at improving others as well, and for this reason, the general improvement of the economy may have a multiplier effect in reducing infant mortality.