Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey ... - Measure DHS

INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY 1010.1 INTRODUCTIONThis chapter analyses information on mortality levels, trends and differentials in neonatal,postnatal, infant, child and under-five mortality. Traditionally, the source of information for mortalitydata is the Population and Housing Censuses and the Tanzania Demographic and Health Surveys(TDHS). This is the first attempt to include a mortality component in the HIV/AIDS indicator survey.However, the methods and procedures applied are the same as those used in the TDHS. This providesan opportunity to link HIV/AIDS and malaria episodes with childhood mortality.Tanzania is among the countries with a high burden of disease caused by HIV/AIDS andmalaria. For many years, malaria has been a major cause of morbidity and mortality, particularlyamong children under age five. Furthermore, HIV/AIDS is increasingly seen among children underfive. To address these two problems, both the Government of Tanzania and Zanzibar, through theirMinistry of Health and Social Welfare, initiated a number of interventions that are currently beingimplemented. The aim is to scale down the prevalence of both malaria and HIV/AIDS in the country.The 2007-08 THMIS provides information that can be used to assess the impact of interventions onthe population. Various stakeholders are interested to know the outcome of their programmes.Funding for interventions mainly comes from the two governments and the development partners.The data for child mortality estimation were obtained from the Individual Questionnairewhich was administered to women age 15-49. In the survey, women were asked to provide theircomplete birth history. Each woman was asked to list all of her children who were born alive, startingwith the first birth. For each child, information was collected on the name, whether the child wassingle or twins, sex, month and year of birth, and survivorship. For each living child, the current agewas reported. For dead children, the age at death was reported.Because the primary cause of death varies with children’s age, the mortality rates presentedare age-specific. They are defined as follows:Neonatal mortality (NN): the probability of dying within the first month of lifePostneonatal mortality (PNN): the difference between infant and neonatal mortalityInfant mortality ( 1 q 0 ): the probability of dying before the first birthdayChild mortality ( 4 q 1 ): the probability of dying between the first and fifth birthdayUnder-five mortality ( 5 q 0 ): the probability of dying between birth and the fifth birthdayAll rates are expressed per 1,000 live births, except for child mortality, which is expressed per1,000 children surviving to twelve months of age.10.1.1 Levels and Trends in Infant and Child MortalityNeonatal, postneonatal, infant, child, and under-five mortality rates for three successive fiveyearperiods before the survey are shown in Table 10.1. The infant mortality rate for the most recentperiod (2004-2009) is 58 deaths per 1,000 live births. This is a decline from 68 deaths per 1,000 livebirths in the 2004-05 TDHS. The child mortality rate is 36 deaths per 1,000 live births, lower thaninfant mortality rate, implying that the main factors contributing to under-five mortality are neonataland postneonatal mortality. The under-five mortality rate for 2004-2008 is 91 per 1,000 live births,which is an improvement from the 2004-05 TDHS results (112 deaths per 1,000 live births).Infant and Child Mortality | 127