–joint survey reveals
The infant and under-five mortality rates have dropped by 17% and 25% respectively, the results of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) have revealed and Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said this was a sign that investments in the social sector were paying off.
However, speaking at the launching of the survey’s results recently, he conceded that there was still work to be done in some sectors.
The MICS was carried out in 2006 to ascertain the situation of women and children in Guyana. It was conducted by the Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), largely because of the need to monitor progress towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals and to provide information that will help to monitor the situation of women and children in Guyana.
The survey, the second of its kind to be done in Guyana–the first was carried out in 2000–was conducted in both interior and coastal locations covering 5,008 households. Three different questionnaires were presented to the occupants of the selected households; one type of questionnaire to each household member; another to all women aged 15 to 49 and a third to mothers or caretakers of all children under age five living in the household.
Although 70 per cent of the sampled households were headed by males, one third of the children under five years lived in a household without their biological father, the survey found. Additionally, one in every five children lived with his/her mother only, even if his/her father was still alive. This was prevalent among children who reside on the urban coast and among children of African ethnicity, the survey found.
The infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of a child dying before his/her first birthday, was 37 per thousand live births, while the under-five mortality rate (U5MR), which is the probability of a child dying before reaching his/her fifth birthday, was 47 out of every thousand live births. According to the results, these estimates are lower than earlier ones. They revealed that IMR fell by 17% and U5MR by 25% and therefore show a change in a positive direction, between the first MICS survey in 2000 and the second in 2006.
Both the IMR and U5MR are lowest in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) and Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) (26 and 31 per cent respectively) while they are at the highest in Region One (Barima/Waini), Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) (52%) and Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) (68%).
According to the results, as wealth increased in households both rates decreased, while both rates are lowest in East Indian children as compared to children of other ethnicities. It was found that a mother’s level of education has no effect on either IMR or U5MR; rather, place of residence–that is whether rural or urban–affected both rates. Both IMR and U5MR are higher in rural areas.
Stunted
As relates to child malnutrition, no large differences were registered when compared to the first MICS in 2000. The results showed that 12 per cent of children under age five in the sample population were underweight or too thin, with two per cent of these being severely underweight. Meanwhile 14 per cent were stunted or too short. Almost twice the number of children from interior locations exhibited stunted growth when compared with coastal children, the results indicated. The three indices used to indicate children’s nutritional status were weight for age, height for age and weight for length or height. The highest percentage of severely stunted children was found in the poorest households, while the lowest was found in middle-class households. It was found also that mothers with upper and post secondary education were least likely to have stunted or underweight children compared to mothers of lower education. However a mother’s level of education had no effect on wasting or overweight in children.
As regards breastfeeding trends, every two in five women started breastfeeding within the recommended time period of one hour after birth. However, only one in every five children under six months was exclusively breastfed. The survey noted that breastfeeding was maintained throughout early childhood.
Low birth weight was registered for every fifth child in the survey; the interior areas registered a slightly higher figure than the coastal areas.
Forty-nine per cent of children in the sample population were enrolled in some form of organized early childhood education programme in 2006.
Vaccinations
More than 70 per cent of children had received/were receiving all of their vaccinations at the required time. Ninety-three per cent of children under age five were registered (had birth certificates). For those children not registered the common reason given was the distance to travel to registration centres.
Six per cent of children from 0-59 months were reported to have symptoms of pneumonia during the two weeks the survey was done. Sixty-four per cent of those children were taken to a proper health care provider. The survey found that one in every five mothers was aware of the danger signs of pneumonia, but women in the interior locations were less likely to be aware.
A large increase was recorded for the number of children who slept under a mosquito net in interior locations, a precaution against malaria. The survey indicated that 70 per cent of the children under age five living in the interior used nets compared to 11 per cent in MICS 2000. The survey showed that 16 per cent of children aged five-14 years old were engaged in child labour; with ten per cent of then working on farms or in other family businesses. However, child labour was found not to have any significant impact on school enrolment.
The survey showed that 74 per cent of children in the sample population were subjected to at least one form of psychological or physical punishment. Severe punishment accounted for 16%; minor physical punishment, 59%; psychological punishment, 63%; only 8% were not subjected to any punishment at all.
Access to improved water sources increased from 83% to 91% from 2000 to 2006.
Fifty-three per cent of households were registered as using pit latrines while 40 per cent employed the use of septic tanks.
Eighty-one per cent of women who had least one birth in the 24 months prior to the survey had received antenatal care from a doctor, nurse, midwife or medex. There was a higher percentage of women on the coast receiving antenatal care as compared to the interior.
Meanwhile 83% of the births that occurred two years before the study were in a health facility; but again the percentage was higher on the coast as compared to the interior.
Fifty-five per cent of women ages 15 to 49 in the population sample knew about the three main ways of preventing HIV transmission. Fifty-eight per cent knew of the three ways of preventing mother to child transmission. There was a 12% increase from 2000, in women of a reproductive age who knew where to get tested for HIV. The survey also found that 51% of the sampled women said that their demand for contraceptives was satisfied with the most popular method being the pill.
Additionally, one in every five women surveyed said she believed that a husband or partner was justified in beating her.