The Global Health Observatory

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Global Health Observatory
Table
Indicator name:
Child deaths, infant deaths (between birth and 11 months), number
Short name:
Infant deaths
Topic:
Mortality and burden of disease
Rationale:
Number of infant deaths measures the magnitude of child mortality.
Definition:
Number of infant deaths is the count of deaths occurring to an infant, before reaching the age of one.
Method of estimation:
These numbers of infant deaths are estimates, derived from the estimated UN IGME infant mortality rate and the population from World Population Prospects published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs; hence they are not necessarily the same as the official national statistics.   More precisely, let's take 1q0= probability of dying between 0 to 1, estimated by infant mortality rate estimated by the UN IGME .   Then,  the central death rate M0 and M1 is computed as follows: M0 =  1q0/[1-(1-a)* 1q0] where a is the fraction of year lived by an infant   = 0.1 for low mortality country and a= 0.3 for high mortality country   Finally, to obtain the number of deaths, country population estimates of 0 and 1-4  from the latest WPP are applied to the death rates.  
Method of estimation of global and regional aggregates:
Global and regional estimates are derived from numbers of estimated deaths and population for age groups 0 year, aggregated by relevant region.
Other possible data sources:
Household surveys
Population census
Preferred data sources:
Civil registration with complete coverage
Unit of Measure:
N/A
Unit Multiplier:
3
Expected frequency of data dissemination:
Annual
Expected frequency of data collection:
Annual
Contact person email:
strongk@who.int
Name:
Kate Strong
IMRID:
2711
Links:
UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA/Population Division. Child Mortality Estimates Info database
Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)
WHO Mortality database
World Population Prospects. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division
Indicator Metadata Registry List
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