Vietnam Infant Mortality Rate Falls Sharply in 1990-2014 Thanks to Immunization

Vietnam has recorded remarkable achievements in curbing the infant mortality rate (IMR), measured by the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age per 1,000 live births, over the past decade thanks to an expanded immunization program (EIP) and better healthcare for women and young children, state media reported Oct 20 citing the Maternal and Child Health Department under the Ministry of Health. According to the department, the IMR fell to 1.49% in 2014 from 4.4% in 1990, while the period from 1990 to 2004 marked a 2.5-fold decrease. Since 2004, the IMR has maintained a consistent drop of about 0.1%age point a year, and by 2015, the rate is only 0.01%age point apart from fulfilling Target number 4 in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, there remains a large gap in child mortality between the rural and urban areas. Vietnamese cities reported an IMR of 0.87% in 2014 while rural towns posted 1.79%, with the highest mortality rates recorded in the Central Highlands, northern mountainous region, north-central region, and the central coastal region. It is also alarming that the IMR among ethnic minority group was 3% while that among the Kinh people was 1.2%. The UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) said that the IMR in Vietnam is falling at a rate slower than that of other measurements. In the 1990-2004, the under-five mortality rate dropped by a half and continued to fall by average 0.2% a year. Today the rate has slowed down to 0.05% a year. Vietnam posted an under-five mortality rate of 2.24% in 2014, about 0.31%age point below the MDGs. Similar to the IMR, the under-five mortality rate also marked a distinctive gap between the developed and less developed region in the country. The child mortality rate in rural areas was consistently twice that in urban areas. The Maternal and Child Health Department called for better medical services in mountainous and remote regions, especially those with high child mortality rates. In many healthcare facilities in poor areas, due to insufficient funding, backward equipment, and unskilled manpower, health workers often fail to perform reproductive care, basic childbirth procedures and antenatal care. The government-controlled EIP, implemented nationwide since 1985, supplies 12 kinds of life-saving vaccines free of charge to all Vietnamese children. Each year Vietnam has about 1.6 million newly born babies while there are over 30,000 vaccination clinics spread out in over 11,000 communes and districts across the country. (vietnamplus.vn Oct 20)