Cause of High Infant Mortality Rate

There are various reasons behind high infant mortality rate, but the most significant causes are inadequate health facilities and lack of infrastructural facilities. Let's discuss these causes in detail.

Inadequate Facilities of Health

Infant mortality rate is higher in countries where access to healthcare facilities is limited. The lack of proper medical care during pregnancy, childbirth, and postnatal period can lead to complications, infections, and other health issues in infants. The following are the reasons for inadequate health facilities:

- Shortage of medical staff
- Insufficient number of hospitals and clinics
- Inadequate medical supplies and equipment
- Lack of proper training and education for medical staff
- Poor infrastructure and maintenance of healthcare facilities

Lack of Infrastructural Facilities

Apart from healthcare facilities, the lack of infrastructural facilities like clean water, sanitation, and electricity can also contribute to high infant mortality rate. The following are the reasons for the lack of infrastructural facilities:

- Poor sanitation and hygiene
- Contaminated water supply
- Unavailability of electricity for medical equipment
- Inadequate transportation facilities for medical emergencies
- Inaccessible or poorly maintained roads in remote areas

Both (a) and (b)

In conclusion, both inadequate facilities of health and lack of infrastructural facilities contribute to high infant mortality rate. Therefore, it is essential to improve healthcare facilities and infrastructural facilities to reduce the infant mortality rate. This can be done by increasing the number of hospitals and clinics, providing proper training and education to medical staff, improving sanitation and hygiene, providing clean water supply, and ensuring proper maintenance of healthcare and infrastructural facilities.