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  • Title: Infant mortality, the birth rate, and development in Egypt.
    Author: Field JO, Ropes G.
    Journal: Egypte Contemp; 1980 Jul; 71(381):213-65. PubMed ID: 12279540.
    Abstract:
    This paper is a product of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Cairo University Health Care Delivery Systems Project which has examined the delivery of health services in Egypt in relation to malnutrition, early childhood mortality, and fertility. Egypt's economic progress since the 1952 Revolution has had only limited effect on high mortality among preschool children, infants and a high rate of population growth. This paper uses governorate data and simple analytical methods. 10% of Egyptian children die in the 1st year of life; subsequent mortality is also extensive in the preschool age children. The crude birthrate remains in the high 30s and overall population growth continues unabated. Early childhood mortality reflects the interplay of malnutrition and infection and population growth is caused by the fact that children, especially males, are considered economic assets. High fertility is a reflection of high mortality to a significant degree. 4 dimensions of development in Egypt are: 1) an urban cluster, 2) poverty, 3) the incidence of women in the paid labor force, 4) development in the rural sector, and 5) population density. Agricultural income increases as women enter the paid labor force and agricultural productivity is weakly related to the practice of women working for pay. Infant mortality in Egypt varies with and is most influenced by population pressures on the land, including urban crowdedness and by the proportion of households living below the poverty line. Female employment adds to family income and affects infant mortality indirectly. Policy implications are: 1) the government must deal with the density factor, 2) it must pursue a development strategy that stimulates productivity and raises the resource base of society, and 3) the government must address infant mortality along with malnutrition and morbidity. The author concludes that: 1) variation in the birth rate is less than variation in the infant mortality rate, 2) mortality and fertility are responsive to different social and environmental influences, 3) the birth rate is unaffected by much that qualifies as development, and 4) the effects of socioeconomic change on fertility appear to be conditioned by residential context.
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