Infant mortality rate remains worrisome

The rate of infant mortality remains worrisome as the Ministry of Health battles to reduce it by 50 percent by the end of 2020, a health official said. Chhour Y Meng, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Health, said during an annual meeting yesterday that the ministry is hoping to reduce the infant mortality rate to 14 infants among 1,000 by the end of 2020.

“Maternal mortality and infant mortality are still high in Cambodia and we all must work together to reduce it,” Mr Y Meng said. He said that infants have died in the past due to suffocation, being underweight at birth, and viral infections.

According to an annual report released by the ministry yesterday, 2,124 of 272,886 children under five years of age who came for treatment at public and private health services died in 2017. Mr Y Meng said the ministry wanted to reduce the infant mortality rate from 30 infants per 1,000 in 2010 to 14 infants among 1,000 by the end of 2020, a 50 percent drop.

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