RP’s under 5 and infant mortality rate declines

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s under-five and infant mortality rate significantly declined over the past several years, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said yesterday.

Preliminary results from the 2008 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) showed that there was a “significant” decline in infant mortality rate (IMR) from 35.1 percent in 1998 to 24.9 percent in 2008.

“Infant mortality rate in the country declined from 35 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in the period 1993 to 1997 to 25 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2003 to 2007,” NSO administrator Carmelita Ericta told a media forum in Quezon City.

On the other hand, under-five mortality rate in the country dropped from 54 deaths per 1,000 live births during the period 1988 to 1992 to 40 deaths per 1,000 live births in the period 1998 to 2002, she said.

“Among all births in the five years preceding the 2008 NDHS, 62 percent were delivered by a health professional compared to 60 percent reported in the 2003 NDHS,” Ericta said.

Ericta said vaccination coverage also improved in the last five years, noting that the percentage of children 12 to 23 months who received, at any time before the survey, full vaccination against six preventable diseases, namely tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, poliomyelitis, and measles, increased from 70 percent in 2003 to 80 percent in 2008.

The 2008 NDHS, conducted from Aug. 7 to Sept. 27, 2008, is a nationally representative survey of almost 14,000 households and 14,000 women aged 15 to 49.

The Philippines is among 68 countries which contributed to 97 percent of maternal, neonatal and child health deaths worldwide, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in its State of the World’s Children 2009 report.

The report said that a child born in a developing country like the Philippines is almost 14 times more likely to die during the first month of life than a child born in a developed one.

In the Philippines alone, about half of the deaths of Filipino children under five years old happen in the first 28 days of life.

Meanwhile, Ernesto Pernia, a professor at the University of the Philippines’ College of Economics, said the results of the survey were “unremarkable” and “unimpressive.”

“The results of the NDHS on fertility and mortality are unremarkable, the improvements are undrammatic, unimpressive. There is more to worry about the future of health of Filipinos,” Pernia said.

For instance, he said, the country’s leaders are setting aside the Reproductive Health Bill to give way to political priorities.

“This is really worrisome about the future of our country,” Pernia said. “There is need to push for stronger population policy for the poorest segments of society.” –Helen Flores, Philippine Star