Why are Child Mortality Rates so high? - Diya Joshi

Child mortality rates: the mortality of children under 5 years out of a total of 1,000 kids. This number should be low, yet 137 out of 1,000 kids in Somalia pass away under the age of 5.

This high rate is due to many different reasons, the biggest being the division of wealth in the country. Somalia has less wealth due to civil conflict, limited resources, no constantly active main government, and natural disasters. With less total wealth, Somalia is putting much of its money toward other issues such as rebuilding from natural disasters and conflicts; due to this, they don’t have much to spend on healthcare. Somalia spends about $33 a person on health (www.npr.org). As we know, wealth is not evenly distributed in any nation. Some people in Somalia get as little as $0 to spend on health from the country. Meanwhile, the United States of America spends about $11,000 per person (www.cms.gov) and has a child mortality rate of .65% (6.5/1,000 kids). This is the astounding difference the amount spent on health can make.

Child mortality is different than other mortality rates. Child mortality is not caused by infections, illness, or diseases. It is caused by factors many people in wealthy nations don’t think of. Premature birth can prove to be fatal if it results in diarrhea, sepsis, SIDS, etc. The main reason for child mortality is malnutrition, which is a huge issue for underdeveloped nations.

Somalia has food insecurity due to droughts and various conflicts throughout the nation. Food insecurity can cause citizens to turn towards unhealthy options and even starvation. Newborns have a very specific need for good nutrition their first two years to be able to grow and develop into a healthy infant (www.cdc.gov). It is so important to spend less money in every nation on military and materialistic spending; all countries have to focus more on health and welfare to improve quality of life.

Preterm pregnancy problems also can contribute to increasing this mortality rate. Many preterm issues have to deal with the quality of life the mother is living (nutritional meals, adequate exercise, well mental state, etc.). With limited access to healthcare due to a small portion of wealth being spent on health for the nation, many citizens have undiagnosed issues in the immune system, heart, and lungs, and the list goes on. Without regular screening and check ups, many of these problems go unnoticed and they affects the unborn child, making them more vulnerable when they enter the world.

Overall, there are so many different reasons that contribute to this terrible mortality rate. Many of them have to do with the amount of money spent on healthcare by the government. To lower this percentage, reconsideration of division of wealth might be a solution to improve quality of life in underdeveloped nations like Somalia. Bringing their 13.7% child mortality rate down to a much lower number.

No nation should have a child mortality rate that high.