The main determinants of infant mortality in Nepal

Infant mortality has reached a low stable rate in developed countries while it is still high and on a slow decline in developing countries. There are many factors that contribute to the incidence of a high or low level of infant mortality. Although credit for contributing to the lowering of infant mortality has been given to health programs by public health personnel and to the improvement in socio-economic status by social scientists, in a traditional and agricultural country such as Nepal, both these factors are found to influence infant mortality. Data on infant mortality obtained by the 1991 Demographic Health Survey of Nepal are analyzed in this study. A logistic regression model is used for analyzing the data. Several hypotheses are tested to explain the incidence of infant mortality in Nepal. The various reasons for the persistence of high infant mortality and the difficulties in lowering it are discussed. The findings suggest that among all the variables analyzed in the study, parity, place of residence, immunization, and ethnicity influence infant mortality the most.