Abstract:
This research aimed at investigating the main causes of under-five mortality in Khartoum State in 2018. Primary data were collected from stratified multistage sample of households in the state covering mainly socio-economic characteristics of the selected households as well as demographic attributes of mothers in these households. Chi-square , binary logistic regression and factor analysis were applied to the data collected leading to the main finding that under-five mortality in Khartoum State in 2018 is significantly associated with duration of living in the State ,fathers education and occupation , mothers age ,education ,and occupation , age at the first childbearing ,number of childbearing , mothers suffer from certain diseases ,medical checkups and their number , delivery at hospital and home , delivery under supervision of doctor and midwives , average of breastfeeding , time of child feeding , immunization of mother ,immunization of under 5 years ,and reaction of mother when her baby sick .
Moreover, it was found that the main causes of under-five mortality are age of mother, age at the first childbearing, numbers of medical checkups, duration of pregnancy less than 32 weeks, average of breastfeeding, and mother suffers from diabetes.
Also fourteen indicators were constructed are supervision and place of delivery, socioeconomic characteristics of mother and father , demographic characteristics, mothers health and child feeding, health of pregnancy and under 5 children, reaction of mother on sickness of under 5 children, pregnancy complication, mother exposes alcohol , delivery at primary health, occupation of father, delivery under supervision of others, mother suffer from blood pressure , exclusive breastfeeding and delivery in other places , the mother goes to the neighboring to bring their child medicine when her child is sick and suffering of mother from certain diseases.
Based on the main findings stated above it is recommended that immunization programmes be expanded to scale up child survival rate. Moreover, to reduce infant mortality quite significantly, the quality and use of skilled care need to be improved. To raise Awareness is important to send educational messages to the community in order to help families learn essential skills and basic health knowledge, particularly in the care of newborns. This includes best practices in breastfeeding and complementary feeding and ideal action when their child is sick. The interventions of the government to contribute in the treatment of under-five children or participate with families it is very essential step to reduce the under-five mortality.
