Ghana ranked 49th in under five mortality rate

Statistics released by UNICEF ranks Ghana 49th out of 187 countries in under five Mortality Rate (U5MR) world-wide.

The statistical indicator is used as a critical factor of the well being of children.

War torn Sierra Leone tops the list with 316 U5MR followed by Angola which has 295 and Niger third with 270 U5MR.

Nigeria is 17th on the list with 184 and neighbouring Togo 29th with 142 U5MR.

The statistics which is contained in the official summary of the State of the World's Children document for the year 2002 said Ghana which had a U5MR of 215

in 1960 has since then had an annual reduction rate of 2.1 percent.

Children under one year mortality rate reduced from 126 in 1960 to 58 in the year 2000. Annual birth rate currently stands at 642,000 with life expectancy pegged at 57 years.

The report said adult literacy rate, that is, the percentage of people above 15 years who can read and write is 70 percent while between 1994 and 2000, net

primary school enrollment/attendance stood at 74 percent compared to 69 percent for Togo and and 56 percent for Nigeria.

Life expectancy is the number of years new born children will live if subjected to the mortality risks prevailing for the cross section of the population at the time of their birth.

The State of the World children report said in the area of nutrition, the percentage of children with low birth weight in Ghana between 1995-2000 was nine percent, while 36 percent of children between the ages of 0-3 months are exclusively breast fed.

Twenty five percent percent of Ghanaian children under five years suffer from moderate under weight while 26 percent of them suffer from stunted growth.

It said 72 percent children are immunized against Diphtheria (DPT), Polio 3 and measles.

On Vitamin A supplementation, coverage rate for the country is pegged at very high figure of 91 percent for children between six - 59 months but only 28 percent of households in Ghana consume iodized salt between 1997 to date.

On health, the report said 73 percent of the population have access to improved drinking water sources. Of the figure, 91 percent of the urban population benefits while in the rural areas it is 62 percent of the population enjoy safe drinking water. About 74 percent of the population in urban centres use adequate sanitation facilities compared 70 percent in the rural areas.