The latest Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) report for 2022 reveals that the infant mortality rate in the West Nile region is 54.9 deaths per 1,000 live births, the highest in the country.
Health
workers in the West Nile region attribute the high infant mortality rate in the
area to the significant burden of malaria. According to
the World Health Organization (WHO), infant mortality rate refers to the
likelihood of a child born in a specific period dying before reaching the age
of one, based on age-specific mortality rates of that period.
The latest
Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) report for 2022 reveals that the
infant mortality rate in the West Nile region is 54.9 deaths per 1,000 live
births, the highest in the country. Following closely are the Ankole and
Bunyoro sub-regions with rates of 49.0 and 42.7 deaths per 1,000 live births,
respectively.
Dr. Paul
Onzubo, the Health Officer of Maracha district, points out that the alarming
infant mortality rate in the region is largely due to the high prevalence of
malaria, particularly among expectant mothers and children.
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Dr. Dominic
Lomurecu, the acting district health officer for Obongi, adds that apart from
malaria, poor health-seeking behaviors among expectant mothers and
undernutrition resulting from widespread poverty exacerbate the situation.
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Malaria
remains a significant contributor to illness and death in Uganda, constituting
33 percent of Out Patients Department (OPD) visits, 22 percent of hospital
admissions, and 11 percent of deaths, as reported by the Ministry of Health.
The West Nile region ranks second, after the Karamojong region, with the
highest positivity rate for malaria, standing at 22 percent according to the
2019 Uganda Malaria Indicator Survey report.
Dr. Sam
Okuonzi, a public health physician and researcher specializing in health
policy, economics, and financing, calls for targeted malaria prevention efforts
in the West Nile region.
He suggests the distribution of first-generation
Long-Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLINs) as a crucial step in addressing
the high infant mortality rate.
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As of the
latest UDHS report for 2022, Uganda's overall infant mortality rate stands at
36 deaths per 1,000 live births.
