Infant Mortality in Albania

• Published in: European journal of public health Vol. 1; no. 2; pp. 57 - 60
• Main Authors: Danermark, B., Vejsiu, Y., Misja, V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1991
• Subjects: Albania; child survival; infant mortality
• ISSN: 1101-1262; 1464-360X
• DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/1.2.57

During the post-war period in Albania, the infant mortality rate (IMR) was reduced substantially from 121 in 1950 to about 30 in the mid-1980s. The IMR is now increasing. In 1991, the estimated IMR was 34. Several factors account for the increase: a worsening economic situation; a high prevalence of malnutrition; the former pronatalist policies prohibiting family planning; and the breakdown of the system of maternal and child care. These problems are manifest in the leading causes of infant death in Albania: respiratory infections; congenital anomalies; and diarrhoeal diseases. There is an urgent need for short-term, emergency programmes aimed at (1) improving nutritional status; and (2) preventing and treating respiratory infections and diarrhoea1 disease in infants. Medium and long-range programmes are also needed to strengthen the already existing infrastructure for primary maternal and child health care and family planning.