NEWBORN HEALTH INTERVENTIONS IN SENEGAL: THE EARLY IMPLEMENTATION PHASE
Background
Senegal has achieved an impressive reduction in child mortality over the past 15 years. Under-five mortality rates have been reduced from nearly 200 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1980 to 139 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1995, a reduction of 30% (Figure 1). Children in Senegal have better chances of survival as a result of increased immunization coverage, prevention of and improved treatment for common childhood illnesses such as diarrhea and pneumonia, and other interventions that primarily benefit older infants and children. During the same period, neonatal mortality rates fell to a far lesser extent, from 44 to 37 deaths per 1,000 live births, a 14% decline. Moreover, during this period, the proportion of all under-five deaths that occur during the first month of life has risen and now stands at 27%. In other words, one of every four deaths among children under five years of age occurs during the first month of life.1 In Enquête Sénégalaise sur les Indicateurs de Sante (ESIS) 1999, the infant and neonatal mortality rates were recorded as 64/ 1000 live births and 31/1000 live births, respectively. 2
Figure 1. Under five, infant and neonatal mortality rates in Senegal, 1980
Ministère de la Santé, de l’Hygiène et de la Prévention/BASICSII, 2004.
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