What are the factors that influence the economic burden of infant mortality?

Worldwide, millions of deaths are recorded among children aged less than 5 years annually. About 50% of the documented mortality cases originate from the Member States of the World Health Organization African Region. Unfortunately, only a couple of African countries are on track to accomplish the Millennium Development Goals of reducing under-five mortality rate. There is enough evidence to the effect that majority of mortality cases among infants are preventable and therefore there is urgent need for enhanced advocacy among the private sector, development partners and governments to offer the resources required to develop sound national health infrastructure to deliver an integrated package of people-centered interventions to bring to an end the alarming mortality rate among infants. Infant mortality has a devastating effect on future macroeconomic output of a nation. They erode investments in physical and human capital formation, increase health expenditure and trigger attrition of future productivity and labor. Infant mortality negatively impacts future spending on products, future labor market, household savings and hence investments, the number of future tax payers and hence future tax revenues; and the number of future exports’ producers, bleeding future exports earnings. Since infants are not part of the present labor force, their deaths affect future not present flows of GDP – the sum of personal consumption expenditures, gross private investment, government consumption spending and net exports. The economic …