Author(s): Shah MS, Khalique N, Khan Z, Amir A
Objective: Identification of causes of death by verbal autopsy which can be conveniently used by peripheral health workers. Methods: All the deaths in children under the age of five years in one year study period were recorded. The cause of death was ascertained using the standard verbal autopsy procedure. Results: In the study period, 446 live births and 56 deaths in under-five children were reported. The neonatal, infant and under five mortality rates were 49.4, 83.0, 125.6 per thousand live births respectively. The main causes of infant deaths were birth asphyxia, diarrhoea, pneumonia, prematurity (including LBW) and malnutrition. The deaths in children of 1-5 years age group were mainly due to diarrhoea, malnutrition, pneumonia and meningitis. Conclusion: Most of the death in children under the age of five years is preventable, if issues like promotion of institutional deliveries, strengthening of referral system, early recognition of danger signs, strengthening of RCH program.