Inequality Blocks Further Reduction in Child Mortality in Latin America Marianela Jarroud - Inter Press Service
go to original August 3, 2015

A doctor attends a 10-month-old baby in a public health centre in Bolivia, in one of the regular check-ups that are a requisite for women to receive the mother-child subsidy, one of the mechanisms created to reduce maternal and infant mortality in the country. (Franz Chávez/IPS)

The progress that Latin America has made in reducing child mortality is cited by international institutions as an example to be followed, and the region has met the fourth Millennium Development Goal, which is to cut the under-five mortality rate by two thirds.

But this overall picture conceals huge differences between and within countries in the region.

“There have been major strides in reducing child mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Luisa Brumana, regional health adviser with the United Nations children’s fund, UNICEF.

“However, that improvement has not benefited everyone equally,” she told IPS from the UNICEF Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Panama City.

In Brumana’s view, “this inequality has given rise to large variations in health indicators, both between and within countries, with results generally based on wealth, education, geographic location, and/or ethnic origin.”

National averages, which in some cases are good, hide enormous inequalities in what continues to be the world’s most unequal region.

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