Statement on Infant Mortality

Rates of infant mortality are sensitive indicators of a broad range of factors affecting children’s health. As such, infant mortality is the “tip of the iceberg” of child health problems, and changes in infant mortality are a signal of factors affecting child health more broadly. In addition to its role as a general gauge of child health, infant mortality itself represents an important health problem. It is well to remember that infant death rates are the highest of any age group less than 65 years. The message conveyed by infant mortality rates if better understood in terms of the causes of mortality at different times during the first year of life.