Azerbaijan among states with high child death rate: UNICEF
Azerbaijan is among countries reporting a high rate
of death for children up to age five during 2007, UNICEF
estimates.
The country ranks 77th in the world, with a mortality rate of 39 out of 1,000 babies, the highest rate among the three South Caucasus republics, says UNICEF`s State of the World`s Children 2009 report. Neighboring Georgia and Armenia are ranked 88th and 99th respectively.
Among CIS states, Azerbaijani child mortality is surpassed by the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, according to UNICEF`s flagship publication, which mainly addresses maternal mortality.
The report said 34 out of 1,000 babies die before reaching the age of one year in Azerbaijan. Infant mortality in Georgia and Armenia is reported at 27 and 22 respectively.
As for the rate of deaths at birth, it is currently at 35 out of 1,000 babies in Azerbaijan, compared to 20 and 18 in Georgia and Armenia.
UNICEF`s report builds on figures that were drawn up in 2006 but made public only in late 2008.
In response, Azerbaijani health officials disagreed with the assessment. The country`s chief pediatrician, Nasib Guliyev, said the figures cited in the UNICEF demographics research did not reflect reality, noting that the child death rate in the country is much lower. According to Guliyev, UNICEF`s findings are inaccurate due to their being based on surveys.
"Only 10 out of 1,000 babies die before reaching the age of one, while the rate of child mortality before the age of five reported in 2007 was 15 per 1,000."
Himayet Rizvangyzy, head of the Patron humanitarian group, maintained that the results drawn up by the State Statistics Committee are inaccurate.
"The Committee keeps the stats based on registration figures. But there are a great number of Azerbaijani villages where pregnant women, for certain reasons, fail to register with counseling offices so neither live births or still-born babies are registered."
Assessing the situation worldwide, UNICEF`s report, entitled "Closing The Gap In Maternal and Neonatal Health," said having a child remains one of the largest health risks for women with 1,500 women dying each day while giving birth.
The difference in pregnancy risks between women in developing countries and their peers in the industrialized world is often termed the greatest health divide in the world, UNICEF concluded. For instance, a woman in Niger has a one in seven chance of dying during the course of her lifetime from complications during pregnancy or delivery. That`s in stark contrast to the risk for mothers in America, where the figure is one in 4,800 or in Ireland, where it`s just one in 48,000.
The country ranks 77th in the world, with a mortality rate of 39 out of 1,000 babies, the highest rate among the three South Caucasus republics, says UNICEF`s State of the World`s Children 2009 report. Neighboring Georgia and Armenia are ranked 88th and 99th respectively.
Among CIS states, Azerbaijani child mortality is surpassed by the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, according to UNICEF`s flagship publication, which mainly addresses maternal mortality.
The report said 34 out of 1,000 babies die before reaching the age of one year in Azerbaijan. Infant mortality in Georgia and Armenia is reported at 27 and 22 respectively.
As for the rate of deaths at birth, it is currently at 35 out of 1,000 babies in Azerbaijan, compared to 20 and 18 in Georgia and Armenia.
UNICEF`s report builds on figures that were drawn up in 2006 but made public only in late 2008.
In response, Azerbaijani health officials disagreed with the assessment. The country`s chief pediatrician, Nasib Guliyev, said the figures cited in the UNICEF demographics research did not reflect reality, noting that the child death rate in the country is much lower. According to Guliyev, UNICEF`s findings are inaccurate due to their being based on surveys.
"Only 10 out of 1,000 babies die before reaching the age of one, while the rate of child mortality before the age of five reported in 2007 was 15 per 1,000."
Himayet Rizvangyzy, head of the Patron humanitarian group, maintained that the results drawn up by the State Statistics Committee are inaccurate.
"The Committee keeps the stats based on registration figures. But there are a great number of Azerbaijani villages where pregnant women, for certain reasons, fail to register with counseling offices so neither live births or still-born babies are registered."
Assessing the situation worldwide, UNICEF`s report, entitled "Closing The Gap In Maternal and Neonatal Health," said having a child remains one of the largest health risks for women with 1,500 women dying each day while giving birth.
The difference in pregnancy risks between women in developing countries and their peers in the industrialized world is often termed the greatest health divide in the world, UNICEF concluded. For instance, a woman in Niger has a one in seven chance of dying during the course of her lifetime from complications during pregnancy or delivery. That`s in stark contrast to the risk for mothers in America, where the figure is one in 4,800 or in Ireland, where it`s just one in 48,000.
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