The study shows that the highest mortality rates are in West and Central Africa. The data from 54 African countries shows only 8 countries (mainly in North Africa) have significantly reduced under five mortality rates to 25 deaths per 1,000 live births or less. The researchers, from Nigeria and the UK, used supervised machine learning to analyse the relationship between child mortality and factors like contraceptive prevalence, use of skilled birth attendants, and female secondary school completion. It show that increasing these health factors can significantly improve the probability of achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target for under-5 mortality rate in African countries. Adedini told Nature Africa that there’s an urgent need for interventions to address the situation and “many countries, particularly across West and Central Africa need to make increased investments in girl-child.”

Source: The North Africa Journal October 17, 2024 03:38 UTC