Essay Sample on Infant Mortality Between Africa and USA

The infant mortality rate (IMR) is the total number of deaths of toddlers under the age of one year among live births in a given year in a particular geographical area. In the world of public health, infant mortality is a statistical measure utilized to show the children’s ratio. IMR is calculated as the total number of deaths during the first year of life divided by the total of live childbirths, multiplied by 1000. Researchers have studied this model and have established various theories and deductions about the IMR in Africa and the United States, and the reason for this rate distinction between social and economic groups. Besides, while there exists a decline in Africa and United, the rate of deterioration seems slower for the Africans (Ram, 2011). The difference between the ratios of infant mortality is due to the level of income in these two nations. Ram (2011) states this to be an illustration of the inverse-care principle, which claims that the accessibility of high-quality clinical care differs inversely with the wants of the served populace. Infant mortality rates fluctuate from distinct nations, as not all countries have income, knowledge, and access to quality care. According to World Health Organization (2020), in Africa, the threat of an infant dying before attaining the first year was 51 per 1000 live childbirth, which was six times higher than the United States of 8 per 1000 live births. Also, 70% of deliveries in Africa occur in the community where there is no record of maternal and newborn lineages (Akinlo & Sulola, 2019). Thus this paper aims to examine the infant mortality between Africa and the USA.

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The United States Infant Mortality Rate

The United States has substantially enhanced its medical care and patient safety in the previous decades. Though, the IMR remains to be comparatively higher contrasted to other developed nations. The racial discrepancies that exist in the United States have led to this variation. Researchers consider the available data and study to highlight some of the better-comprehended aspects resulting in comparatively higher infant death rates (MacDorman & Declercq, 2018). 5.681 deaths per live births of 100 are the current rate of infant deaths for the United States in 2020, showing a 1.17% drop from 2019 (MacDorman & Declercq, 2018). Besides, the CDC report discovered that there existed no progress in the rate of U.S. infant mortalities between 2000 and 2005 (Matoba & Collins, 2017). The decline has created concern among scientists and policymakers. The infant death rate was 6.89 per 1,000 for the year 2000, a ratio that stayed constant for five years before decreasing to 6.71 in 2005 and 2006 (Matoba & Collins, 2017). The rapid infant mortality decline in the United States is due to the progression in sanitation, breast milk supplies, and the obtainability of medical technologies and immunizations such as antenatal corticosteroids pointing high-risk pregnancies. Overall, the United States has been slower to enhance its consistently higher average infant mortality rates, and substantial disparities exist within the state.

However, the United States has attained historic lows, challenges in eliminating inequalities between ethnicities, races, and other demographic factors persist. Researchers have determined that the social environment impacts human behavior (Reno & Hyder, 2018). Hence, human behavior results to risk elements that influence peri-natal and prenatal development, comprising prenatal environment, gestational age, and genetic anomalies. The nation should use Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological theory to minimize the infant deaths associated with racial disparities of white black in the United States. The model offers a useful framework for portraying the different progressions that influence a child’s responses and adjustment path. As expounded using Bronfenbrenner’s typology, interactive dynamics such as direct contact with people and the reverberating significances of others’ activities portrays the type of environment in a particular area (Reno & Hyder, 2018). Bronfenbrenner believes that the central relationship requires being with a person who can offer a sense of caring in a lifetime within the sphere of the kid’s influence hence eliminating racial disparities. Ethnic disparities do not allow for constant mutual interaction with vital people that is essential for development. According to the ecological model, if the relations in the immediate microsystem fail, the infant will not have the tools to discover other parts of the atmosphere.

Africa Infant Mortality Rate

Africa has a disturbingly high number of infants dying in different regions. Several of the infant mortalities, which constitute approximately 74% die at households or on the way to hospitals (Akinlo & Sulola, 2019). In the shadows of the high rates of child, mortality is numerous grieving mothers who face the personal, marital, and social costs of a child’s death. Africa has established a remarkable improvement in child survival in the previous decades. Besides, progress in decreasing child death accelerated in the year 2000 to 2019, contrasted with the 1990s. The mortality rate had an annual 0.5% reduction rate improving from 1990–2000 to 1.0% in 2000–2019 (Akinlo & Sulola, 2019). Despite Africa’s progress in declining child deaths, half of the mortalities have happened in sub-Saharan Africa. The country continues to be the area with the highest infant mortality rate in the globe, with 78 deaths in every 1,000 live births (Akinlo & Sulola, 2019). In 2019, 1 in 13 kids in sub-Saharan Africa succumbed before attaining one year of age, which is15 times higher than the hazard for infants born in high-income nations ((Akinlo & Sulola, 2019).

The classical theory can illustrate the high infant rates of mortality in Africa, where the economy of a country exceeds or falls below the natural degree of real GDP. Crisis periods appeal to a lot of humanitarian aid from international communities and home governments (Lapavitsas, 2017). Researchers anticipate that a nation’s growth would reinstate upon the administration of philanthropic support (Lapavitsas, 2017). However, in Africa, the offered humanitarian assistance offered does not bring the country to suitable health and economic status. Africa should utilize the provided humanitarian aid to eliminating infant death rates, and achieving this requires a focus on the cause of the problem. According to the classical model, a self-adjusting mechanism can help regulate the crisis. If Africa stops interfering with the international and external aid, the severity of the medical states will improve. High dysfunctions levels hinder most health provision features. Among the undermined components of health, provisions comprise quality care, health system accountability, and supply of medicines to health amenities.

Comparison between the U.S and Africa Infant Mortality Rates

Infant mortality levels in the United States have decreased over the previous years; however, Africa has not experienced a steeper decline like the U.S hence introducing a gap that endures today. The infant mortality determinants in the United States eventually stem from gender, social, racial, and economic factors, which result in varying child death rates between diverse societal groups. Hispanics have shown the significance of an individual’s social setting and the contribution to a person’s health. Robust social-support networks are a vital contributor to better wellbeing in the Hispanics, an aspect that lacks between the African Americans in the United States (Ashford & LeCroy, 2009).

Social epistemologists relate inadequate social-support networks to the progression of diseases and illnesses. Social factors such as income, behaviors, and insurance have contributed to the disparities. These elements contribute to augmented stress level that leads to reduced health habits such as failing to pursue appropriate healthcare and abusing substances which impact pregnancy outcome. Africa has experienced income challenges due to overdependence from humanitarian aid hence affecting infant mortality. Low-income mothers may not have the capability to cater for adequate prenatal care. Also, low socioeconomic status has shown to have a substantial risk influence for more causes of infant mortality rates such as preterm birth, injury, maternal complications, and severe congenital disabilities. Thus, most of the Africans have lower access to prenatal care.

Conclusion

The IMR is the number of toddler mortalities for all 1,000 live births. Infant mortality is a crucial indicator of a nation’s health due to the variety of aspects such as quality, maternal health, public health practices, and access to medical care. Diverse systems of health care delivery cover distinct levels of clinical services, which play a substantial role in the delivery of quality care. With this, it is vital to comprehend the key IMR determinants and the consequences of higher infant mortality levels within a nation for such determinants to minimize their mortality rates in infants ultimately. Technological developments in medicine would reduce infant mortality, and augmented access to such tools could lessen racial and ethnic disparities. Social determinants influence technical factors. Providing information regarding infant mortality rate is a significant marker of the overall social health in a community. Also, infant mortality information serves the requirements of agencies offering health services by determining the exposed sectors of the population. The joint approach between society and health can aid in addressing the health, behavioral, and social risk elements that contribute to high infant mortality and influence birth outcomes. Thus, the reported IMR offers one statistic which mirrors the living standard in each country.

References

Akinlo, A. E., & Sulola, A. O. (2019). Health care expenditure and infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Policy Modeling, 41(1), 168-178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2018.09.001

Ashford, J. & LeCroy, L. (2009).Human Behavior in the Social Environment: A Multidimensional Perspective. Mason: Cengage Learning.

Lapavitsas, C. (2017). The classical adjustment mechanism of international balances: Marx’s critique. In Marxist Monetary Theory, 134, 73-93. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004272712_005

MacDorman, M. F., & Declercq, E. (2018). The failure of United States maternal mortality reporting and its impact on women’s lives. Birth (Berkeley, Calif.), 45(2), 105. https://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12333

Matoba, N., & Collins Jr, J. W. (2017, October). Racial disparity in infant mortality. In Seminars in perinatology, 41(6), 354-359. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.semperi.2017.07.003

Ram, R. (2011). The ‘inverse care law’ and infant mortality among Whites and Blacks in the United States. International Journal of Social Economics. 38(12), 973-982. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068291111176338

Reno, R., & Hyder, A. (2018). The evidence base for social determinants of health as risk factors for infant mortality: A systematic scoping review. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved, 29(4), 1188-1208. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2018.0091.

World Health Organization. (2020). Global Health Observatory (GHO) data.2020. Child mortality and causes of death. WHO. https://www.who.int/gho/child_health/mortality/neonatal_infant_text/en/.