A Comparative Study of Socio-economic Determinants of Infant and Child Mortality in Jorhat and Dhubri Districts, Assam

Abstract

Infant and child mortality rates are considered to be sensitive indicators of socio-economic and health conditions prevailing in a community. They are often used to reflect the state of public health, environmental sanitation, socio-economic development, and the people’s attitude towards the value of human life itself in a country. For demographic and statistical purposes, all children under one year of age are considered infants, and so, the term ‘infant mortality’ refers to mortality among children of less than one year of age. After infancy, childhood is the most crucial period for survival over the entire lifespan. Decreases in the risk of mortality in succeeding age periods during infancy continue beyond the first birthday.