Public Health Saudi Arabia And Global Data

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1. Explain the infant and under-five mortality rates (definitions, statistics, causes)

With maternal and child health being an important public health issue, it is important to

understand the infant and under-five mortality rates (U5MR) and the maternal mortality ratio.

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the U5MR as the probability of a child born

on a specific year dying before they reach the five years old for every one thousand live births.

This data is also reflective of the children’s health care and various conditions of which the

children live such as the socio-economic and environmental factors.

Since 1990, there is a decreasing trend in the U5MR both in the Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia (KSA) and globally. In 1990, the U5MR in the KSA was 44.4 per 1000 live births; this

has decreased to 6.6 per 1000 live births in 2019 according to the UNICEF. Comparing it to the

global data: in 1990 the U5MR was 93 per 1000 live births, and this has decreased to 38 per

1000 live births in the year 2019 (WHO, 2020). In the 2020 report of the UN Inter-agency Group

for Child Mortality Estimation, the deaths are mostly caused by infectious diseases together with

preterm birth and intrapartum-related complications.

2. Discuss the maternal mortality ratio (definition, statistics, causes)

The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is the incidence of maternal deaths per 100,000

births where maternal deaths include the female’s death that is within six weeks from the time

the pregnancy ends regardless of its duration or site of pregnancy. Al-Meshari, Chattopadhyay,

Younes, and Anokute (1995) found that the MMR in Saudi Arabia was 18 per 100,000 births

during the time of their study where hemorrhage was the top cause of maternal death. Other

causes of maternal deaths in their study were pulmonary embolism, ruptured uterus, hypertensive

disorders, abortive and hydatidiform mole, sepsis, amniotic fluid embolism, ectopic pregnancy,

and other direct causes (Al-Meshari et al., 1995). As of 2017, the Maternal Mortality Estimation

Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) reported that Saudi Arabia had an increase in MMR in the year

2000 at 24 per 100,000 births and had a steady decline since then until 2015 and 2017 with 17

per 100,000 births. As for the global data from the UNICEF exhibited that there was a 38% drop

in the MMR from the year 2000 at 342 per 100,000 to 211 per 100,000 in 2017; where

hemorrhage remains to be the top cause of maternal deaths followed by hypertension, sepsis,

abortion, embolism, and other direct and indirect causes.

3. Explore the challenges and barriers for improving maternal and child health

Despite the decreasing trends in both infant and under-five mortality rates and maternal

mortality ratio, it is imperative to improve maternal and child health care to further decrease

those numbers. To do so, it is essential to identify challenges that may hinder the improvement in

maternal and child healthcare. Nair et al., (2014) stated in their study that information (or lack

thereof), communication (language barrier), patient and population engagement, satisfaction with

healthcare, lack of regular quality supervision and evaluation, shortage of healthcare workers,

and models of care may be some of the challenges and barriers to improve maternal and

childcare. Sumankuuro, Crockett, and Wang, (2018) revealed that in some health facilities

incomplete health facility infrastructure, insufficient medical equipment and coordination were

perceived barriers to delivering maternal and newborn health services in some institutions. In

some regions of the world such as in Kenya, for example, the gender of the service provider,

insecurity, lack of transport, and socio-economic status remain to be a challenge to availing the

maternal and child health services (Kisiangani et al., 2020). All of these are challenges and

barriers that need to be addressed if we want to drastically improve the maternal and child health.

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1. Explain the infant and under-five mortality rates (definitions, statistics, causes) With maternal and child health being an important public health issue, it is important to understand the infant and under-five mortality rates (U5MR) and the maternal mortality ratio. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the U5MR as the probability of a child born on a specific year dying before they reach the five years old for every one thousand live births. This data is also reflective of the children’s health care and various conditions of which the children live such as the socio-economic and environmental factors. Since 1990, there is a decreasing trend in the U5MR both in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and globally. In 1990, the U5MR in the KSA was 44.4 per 1000 live births; this has decreased to 6.6 per 1000 live births in 2019 according to the UNICEF. Comparing it to the global data: in 1990 the U5MR was 93 per 1000 live births, and this has decreased to 38 per 1000 live births in the year 2019 (WHO, 2020). In the 2020 report of the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, the deaths are mostly caused by infectious diseases together with preterm birth and intra ...
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Tags: Maternal and Child Health