Child Mortality and Morbidity in South Sudan

Abstract

This study examines factors associated with childhood mortality and morbidity in South Sudan. The specific objectives were to establish childhood mortality, examine the effect of childhood factors on mobility and assess the contribution of mother factors on childhood mortality and morbidity. Data from Second South Sudan Household Health Survey (SSHHS2) were used and univariate, bivariate, logistic regression and rested logistic models were used to estimate the odds of dying and survivorship probabilities for under-five mortality. The results provide estimates of childhood mortality by bio-demographic, socioeconomic characteristics, residence, state level, unexpected pattern for infant and under five mortality rates across residence, mother education and wealth quintiles’. It was found that education of the mother has a weak relationship with the overall level of child mortality and birth interval offers survival when there is an interval of less than two years between pregnancies, demonstrating the importance of spacing on child survival. Thus, it was recommended that government of South Sudan in conjuction with NGOs should implement effective educational programmes that aim at promoting and prolonging breastfeeding and mass immunization as effective ways of increasing child-birth intervals and reducing prevalence of immunisable diseases.