Child mortality has become a prominent public health issue in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The mortality rates can in part be translated to how communities meet the health needs of children and address key household and environmental risk factors. Though discussions on the trends and magnitude of child mortality continue as to strategize for a…

Although development goals are usually set as targets that must be achieved in a development process, experience with development goals in Africa has tended to underscore underperformance either in terms of a shortfall in the targets attained or in terms of inadequate pursuit of specific goals. To illustrate this syndrome, the African Union's New…

National differences in murder, rape, and serious assault were examined in 113 countries in relation to national IQ, income, skin color, birth rate, life expectancy, infant mortality, and HIV/AIDS. Data were collated from the 1993-1996 International Crime Statistics published by INTERPOL. Violent crime was found to be lower in countries with…

The health problems of developing nations are very different from those of the industrialized world. Simpler and more extensive care is more effective in these settings than highly specialized technology and practices imported from Western countries. One key to improving general health and stabilizing population grwoth is the prevention of…

Examines demographic information about the status of young children around the world. Graphs nations with the largest populations of young children and highest percentage of their populations composed of young children in comparison to the aged, the percentage of regional populations under age 5 and over 64, and birth and infant mortality rates.…

In sub-Saharan Africa, aggregate data show that female literacy is associated with higher agricultural productivity and is more strongly correlated than GNP with mortality and immunization rates of young children. A case study of Gambia confirms these relationships, with high female illiteracy apparently impeding both human and economic…

This monograph focuses attention on economic considerations related to infant feeding practices in developing countries. By enlarging on previous methodologies, this paper proposes to improve the accuracy of past estimates of the economic value of human milk, or more specifically, the practice of breastfeeding. The theoretical model employed…

Countries around the world have achieved huge gains in primary education, reaching a world average of 83.8 percent in net primary enrollment. However, large numbers of students still do not complete primary education, and even fewer continue on to secondary school. Since so few children complete primary school, those who do must be able to…

In Sub-Saharan Africa, severe adverse conditions have placed children at high risk: persistent and worsening poverty, rapid economic change and population growth, increasing urbanization, a changing family structure, growing numbers of orphaned refugees, and displaced women and children from internal civil strife. These conditions make a viable…