From the article of Baby deaths in China seen a sharp decline in recent years of infant mortality. This cause due to the fact that in recent years the Chinese government has pushed for women to give birth in hospitals as opposed to at home. Though this is an improvement in the aggregate data, the decompressed data show is showing a different story. Though the overall infant mortality rate has dropped, the mortality rate is still alarmingly high for infant girls. These steps that the Chinese government has made are indeed progress, but there are still far larger issues at hand that the Chinese government is not addressing. It is true that in China the boys’ infant mortality has seen a sharp decline in recent years. However, there is some downside of it, such as mortality rate between infant boys and girls are different. This issue might have occurred because China’s male favoritism still exist. In order to truly improve China’s infamously high mortality rate, it is necessary that the issue of male favoritism in Chinese society be addressed, because the rate at which infant girls are dying in China, despite this recent improvement is still alarming. China’s population is already extremely lacking in women, and unless the government takes some major steps to try and turn this trend around, they will have a serious issue on their hands in the next twenty years or so. Regardless, to move forward, education is very important, educating women as much as men, and educating men on the importance of women.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/china-newborn-baby-deaths-fall-with-improved-healthcare/
It’s great that the deaths in China’s youth has improved rating wise due to increase health care. However what about the developing countries where numbers have not improved because they have none to limited access to health care. The world needs to make a continuous effort to help all children and new born to increase the child mortality reate globally not just in China.
ReplyDeleteWhile overall, it's great that child mortality has dropped in China, I do agree with you in that children should not die just because of their sex. The problem is that the Chinese have favored males for centuries now, and changing a mindset of a nation is hard, even when it's new.
ReplyDeleteThere needs to be some sort of incentive for the Chinese to keep their daughters because (for the sake of being devil's advocate) I do understand that most of China is poor and daughters mean that huge dowrys have to be paid in the future. If there was an extra reward given to those with daughters, it would reduce the female IMF significantly
To get a better idea of China’s demographics and the infant mortality rate, the gender distribution in China needs to be referenced. Based on the 2011 CIA World Factbook, at birth, the ratio of males to females is 1.133. Under 15 years, the ratio is 1.17; 15-64, 1.06; 65 years and up, .93; and total population, 1.06. By comparing the ratios from birth to under 15 years, there is definitely a slight discrepancy of where males tend to have a higher survival rate than females but it actually seems like women has a higher survival rate as they age. Overall, it looks like infant mortality rates for girls needs to be addressed, most likely in rural areas where access to healthcare is difficult, but other health initiatives for men need to be addressed as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is a huge step in improving health care in China with the decrease in child mortality rates. Providing hospital attention to pregnant women will not only ensure the proper care of the child but also the mother. Addressing the discrepancy between boy and girl mortality rates in China can potentially reduce the total gender inequality within the nation. Helping set an equal standards between the sexes can help bring equal health care.
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