Friday, March 29, 2024

Luapula leads in child mortality – CSO

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Luapula Province has the highest prevalence rate of childhood mortality in the country, with 157 and 97 deaths per 1 000 live births in under-five children and infants respectively.

This came to light during the Central Statistical Office (CSO) 2007 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) dissemination seminar in Mansa today.

CSO Director, Efreda Chulu, however, said although the province still remained with the highest prevalence in infant mortality, it had recorded a reduction from 157 to 97 deaths per 1000 live births over a five-year period.

Ms Chulu also said there had been a decline in under-five mortality from 248 to 157 deaths per 1000 live births but said Luapula Province still ranked the highest with prevalence of childhood mortality in the country.
She also disclosed that the province also accounts for the highest cases of stunted and malnourished children.

According to the ZDHS report findings, 56 per cent of under-five children in the province are stunted and about 18 per cent are underweight and over five per cent were wasted or too thin for their height.
The report revealed that the levels of stunted and underweight growth amongst the under five children indicated that there was chronic and acute malnutrition in the province.

The ZDHS report indicated that the high prevalence of childhood mortality was as a result of lack of family planning among many families, mostly in the rural parts of the province.
It said there was low family planning contraceptive usage and unmet need for family planning amongst married women and missing of antenatal and postnatal care.

The CSO has embarked on a countrywide dissemination of the findings of the 2007 ZDHS in provinces.

Speaking at the same function, Luapula Province Permanent Secretary, Jazzman Chikwakwa, said there was need for more attention and focus in addressing the challenges that hampered the attainment of improved health care and livelihood in Luapula Province.

Mr Chikwakwa said government and its co-operating partners needed to strengthen their interventions and programs aimed at reducing the health problems that beleaguered the province.

He said this in a speech read for him by Luapula Province Deputy Permanent Secretary, Blackson Ndlobvu.

Mr Chikwakwa said the government and its partners should not lose focus due to the worsening statistical findings in the survey but work harder and focus on the raised concerns for improved lives of the people in the area.

He called on heads of government departments and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the province to study the findings of the ZDHS and assess the effectiveness of their activities on the people in their areas of operation.

Meanwhile, Mr Chikwakwa commended the CSO for initiating a program to disseminate the survey findings to provinces, noting that the ZDHS findings were vital to the development of policies and plans to tackle the highlighted challenges as most policy implementing agents were based in provinces.

And Mr Chikwakwa said that government was committed to strengthening capacity of research institutions to conduct surveys and research studies in order to meet the increasing demand for information for policy formulation, planning and evaluation of interventions and programs.

He said timely and reliable statistics would enable government and its cooperating partners and other stakeholders to make informed assessments of its programs and interventions.

ZANIS

24 COMMENTS

  1. Iyo, chabipa icho. Luapula ka. Terrible indeed. what could be the major cause? Just hunger nangu kuli nafimbi? Abena Zed, Njafweniko please.

  2. When Miti and his friends take K27b per annum how do you expect Luapula to have any pediatric health care? They are child killers!

  3. # 3 Ba Monze, I know statistics is a difficulty subject, but atleast you can understand word REDUCTION.

  4. Elyo mulelanda pa ma hearse ati ni bad idea. This is what life is in Zed. People die like locusts. Badies, parents, grandmothers/fathers, its a shame. Much as the MMD gov blundered on hearses, people need them. The health system will take forever to be over hauled but as we wait for that to happen, people will continue to die. Thats just the way it is.

  5. #5 Ku Shani uko, If you have been on this blogg long enough then you will realise my question is sincere. Wachokela kuti anyway. We appreciate ‘smart’ on the blogg, but believe you me, “smart ar.se” we dont!

  6. These are serious real statistics and I hope the character who was asserting that Western Province is the most poor on Zambianwatchdog will read this article.

    On the otherhand, these Luapulans are the characters who have been voting terribly for a long time in Zambia. President HH and the UPND Team, please take businesses to Luapula so that the people there will have reason to vote properly in 2011 elections.
    ___
    Prevention is better than cure.

  7. Guys this is old, Central Statistical Office (CSO) 2007 we want to hear what has been done to improve women and childrens lives since then, ahhh

  8. Yebo maestro, regardless of whom the luapulans voted for ultimately the one who won the elections has the responsibility of taking development to all corners of Zambia.

  9. Trust #8, Satellite Communications Physicist Maestro Hhehhehhehhe to have a nonsensical political approach to the whole issue. “these Luapulans’ you are referring to are not the ones soley responsible for who is in power. It doesn’t take Luapula province alone to win an election, that is basic common sense. I suggest you familiarize yourself with the word “rigging” in order to fully understand the so called “voting patterns” of various provinces. Try to avoid being tunnel visioned in your thinking and approach to such subjects. The infant mortality rate is very high across the entire country, including your province, and that is a function of our governments refusal to direct the appropriate , policies, resources and manpower towards healthcare.

  10. Many people who are plunderers are from Luapula, talk of Katele, Chiluba, Pule and many others why not invest in their own province? I know Pule has a lodge there, but more work should be done. Others are working hard to lose weight while Luapula folks are wasting away every day. Too much belief in witchcraft, and backward traditions. These guys can’t give eggs to children (because only the elders are supposed to eat eggs). They eat fish and Uccar root day in and day out, things must change for the better. Time to wake up is now. Stop voting for people like Sata, he won’t bring dev to the province.

  11. Mwana wa pa ngoma, hello! my dear in this life you don’t expect anybody to throw your trash. It is written , it is the sick who seek the doctor.” By sitting on their hands and looking to the Govt won’t help, because the “Govt is busy stealing as well.” Africans must learn to solve their own problems, so the same with those folks in Luapula. If not we shall hear very soon that they are floating on those swamps.

  12. I think people from Luapula you deserve it. I say this because you have influential people in those offices who dont care for you. Let me give you some of the example which show how luapula has been blacklisted . Look at all the developmental projects we have in Zambia, Luapula province receives a very small share. Almost all agricultural projects in the ministry of agriculture go to southern, eastern, central and other provinces. Luapula is left out. When it comes to poverty mitigation aid (eg food relief aid) year in and year out the money goes to southern, eastern and other provinces and luapula is left in the dark. Really you will be always insulted by these trabalists because your leaders are too selfish. They dont think about you while their friends think about where they come from.

  13. #18, explain to me how “influential people in those offices who dont care for people in Luapula province makes the people from that province deserving of a high mortality rate. Should development in Luapula province only come at the hands of leaders who are believed to originate from there? Aren’t ALL government officials, regardless of tribe, responsible for the well being of ALL zambians, regardless of tribe? If like you say, “almost all agricultural projects in the ministry of agriculture go to southern, eastern, central and other provinces”. and ” Luapula is left out”, then that is an indictment on those officials as well as those who are supportive of those actions and is an indication of tribalism. Officials who only think of where they come from should not assume National…

  14. #19…if you want the facts go and check at the ministry of agricure. You will be suprised dear. So i wonder why always projects elude Luapula. Go to parliament and ask which provinces receive aid every year. Luapula is not there. Why?? there is a lot in this ministries man.

  15. This is not a forum for tribalism. No one deserves bad health or high mortality rates in their province, whether you are Bemba, Ngoni, Lozi, whatever.. you are Zambian and we are one. So this idea of which tribe deserves what – is nonsense. Lets all be patriotic as Zambians who care for one another. It doesn’t matter who is influential, why are people after Bembas? No one chose to be whatever tribe they are so get over it and start developing the country North, West, South or East. Right now its the poor policies in place or should i say poor administration. And who says people should develop only the areas they come from? Please this is the 21 st century and to me i don’t give a toss which province you come from. One Zambia One Nation

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