Both sides must work on infant mortality

THE EDITOR: Can you ask why the successive government's conveniently forget about past infant deaths under their watch?

Please check the CSO data and rates. https://cso.gov.tt/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/TT-Demographic-Profile-2005-2021.xlsx.xlsx

Every Government before tends to improve and reduce infant deaths. This is expected and is a worldwide trend.

The following information is from the Central Statistical Office and is calculated from the deaths that occur in infants below 1 year of age. It is for the period 2005-2018 and roughly is divided into different periods of changes in political parties.

2005 266

2006 237

2007 225

2008 263

2009 275

Total 1266, Average 253 annual

2010 257

2011 253

2012 214

2013 237

2014 218

2015 181

Total =1360 infant deaths, Average 227 annual

2016 224

2017 191

2018 172

No data published yet after 2018

Total = 587, Average 196 annual

So instead of playing politics and accusing each other of killing more infants, they need to work together to find sustainable solutions to ensure a bright future for generations to come.

Regardless of which political party is at the helm, some deaths are expected to occur especially in these very premature babies who weren't ready to survive on the outside. The politicians need to build on each previous Government's improvements in order to reduce avoidable deaths especially in full term babies.

SHAMILLA DASS

Tunapuna