By AFPMore by this AuthorPARISOne in five children born with a twin sibling in sub-Saharan Africa dies before the age of five — three times the rate among singletons, said a study Thursday. "Twins account for 10.7 percent of all under-five deaths and 15.1 percent of neonatal (newborn) deaths in the region and these percentages are increasing," the study said. "The total number of twins dying before five years of age is estimated at about 315,000 per year." The researchers used data on 1.69 million children born in 30 sub-Saharan African countries between 1995 and 2014. MORTALITYUnder-five mortality of single-borns in the region halved over the period, but declined by about a third for twins, the researchers found.

Source: Daily Nation June 01, 2017 06:00 UTC