الملخص

ABSTRACTObjectives: To calculate infant and under five mortality rates and to find out the most common causes of death among children.Methods:Study period: The study was done over a period of one month, during Dec. 2007.Study design: Rapid epidemiological survey using UNICEF “last birth technique”.Study setting: The study was done at Al-Hadbaa Primary Health Care Center in Mosul city.Study population: Data was collected from 1046 mothers in child bearing age (15-49 years), who were attending at the antenatal clinic by direct interviewing using a questionnaire form based on the model formulated by UNICIF for childhood mortality survey.Results: The present study showed that the estimated under five mortality rate is 107 /1000 of last live births which represents a rise of 2.5 fold since WHO Maternal and Child Mortality Survey was done at 1990 in Iraq. The Infant mortality rate was estimated to be 95.6 death / 1000 of last live births. The study also showed that the neonatal mortality (0-28 days) constitutes 40.9/1000 last live birth which accounts for 42% from all deaths that occur during 1st year of life. Other findings showed that more than a quarter of all causes of deaths among under five were related to respiratory problems and 15.5% of all causes were linked to congenital abnormalities. Diarrheal disease accounted for 8.6% of causes. Conclusion: Results showed that under five mortality is still considered a major health problem and reflecting defect in health system of the community, needs to be re-evaluated and minimized to be as least as possible.