Maternal and Infant Mortality

Maternal and Infant Mortality Malini Karkal THE death rate in a population is an index of the health of the people that constitute it. However it is known that there are differentials in rates by characteristics of the people, thus influencing death rates based on the composition of the population. Many developing countries have death rates comparable to those of the developed countries even when it is known that the health of the people in these developing countries is poorer. It should be obvious that the explanation lies in the fact that the two populations have a widely differing composition and in spite of poorer health the developing country has a population that is favourable to an overall lower death rate.