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. 2018 May;63(Suppl 1):63-77.
doi: 10.1007/s00038-017-0998-x. Epub 2017 Aug 3.

Neonatal, infant, and under-5 mortality and morbidity burden in the Eastern Mediterranean region: findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study

GBD 2015 Eastern Mediterranean Region Neonatal, Infant, and under-5 Mortality Collaborators
Collaborators

Neonatal, infant, and under-5 mortality and morbidity burden in the Eastern Mediterranean region: findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study

GBD 2015 Eastern Mediterranean Region Neonatal, Infant, and under-5 Mortality Collaborators. Int J Public Health. 2018 May.

Abstract

Objectives: Although substantial reductions in under-5 mortality have been observed during the past 35 years, progress in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) has been uneven. This paper provides an overview of child mortality and morbidity in the EMR based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study.

Methods: We used GBD 2015 study results to explore under-5 mortality and morbidity in EMR countries.

Results: In 2015, 755,844 (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 712,064-801,565) children under 5 died in the EMR. In the early neonatal category, deaths in the EMR decreased by 22.4%, compared to 42.4% globally. The rate of years of life lost per 100,000 population under 5 decreased 54.38% from 177,537 (173,812-181,463) in 1990 to 80,985 (76,308-85,876) in 2015; the rate of years lived with disability decreased by 0.57% in the EMR compared to 9.97% globally.

Conclusions: Our findings call for accelerated action to decrease child morbidity and mortality in the EMR. Governments and organizations should coordinate efforts to address this burden. Political commitment is needed to ensure that child health receives the resources needed to end preventable deaths.

Keywords: Burden of disease; Child mortality; Eastern Mediterranean Region; Infant mortality; Neonatal mortality.

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Conflict of interest statement

This manuscript reflects original work that has not previously been published in whole or in part and is not under consideration elsewhere. All authors have read the manuscript and have agreed that the work is ready for submission and accept responsibility for its contents.The authors of this paper have complied with all ethical standards and do not have any conflicts of interest to disclose at the time of submission. The funding source played no role in the design of the study, the analysis and interpretation of data, and the writing of the paper. The study did not involve human participants and/or animals; therefore, no informed consent was needed.

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest at this time.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Top cause of under-5 deaths in the Eastern Mediterranean Region by country, 2015 (Global Burden of Disease 2015 study, Eastern Mediterranean Countries, 2015)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Changes in number of deaths and mortality rates in top 25 causes of under-5 mortality in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 1990–2000 and 2000–2015. Data available at https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare. (Global Burden of Disease 2015 study, Eastern Mediterranean Region, 1990–2015)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mortality rates for top 10 causes of under-5 mortality in the Eastern Mediterranean Region by country, 2015 (Global Burden of Disease 2015 study, Eastern Mediterranean Countries, 2015)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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