Abstract
BackgroundTo my knowledge, there was no systematic study so far that analysed the extent of the impact of improved sanitation on infant mortality in the African context with long years of full-fledged longitudinal data.AimThe aim of this study was to empirically examine the extent to which improved sanitation explains the observed differences in infant mortality under 5 years of age across African countries.SettingThe study covered a panel of 33 countries from north, south, east, west and central Africa for the years 1994–2013.MethodsThe study first conducted Durbin–Wu–Hausman specification test and then used fixed effect model. In addition, Praison–Winsten regression with corrected heteroscedasticity was employed to verify the consistency of the results that were revealed in using fixed effect estimation method.ResultsThe study revealed that a 1% increase in access to improved sanitation would reduce infant mortality by a rate of about two infant deaths per 1000 live births. Also, the study confirmed that a significant decline in infant mortality rate was highly linked to improvements in education, health and sustainable economic growth.ConclusionThe findings have wide implications especially for African countries for which decreasing infant mortality is one of the most crucial priorities in the continent to reverse the current deep-rooted challenges related to human capital formation.
Highlights
To my knowledge, there was no systematic study so far that analysed the extent of the impact of improved sanitation on infant mortality in the African context with long years of full-fledged longitudinal data
Infants’ major health threats and deaths are attributable to a number of infectious and parasitic diseases aggravated by lack of access to improved sanitation, and most could be avoided with the mass implementation of simple and low-cost interventions mainly through improving sanitation and hygiene
Most of the sub-Saharan African countries are still having the highest rates of child mortality where one in eight children dies before age 5, which is more than 17 times the average for developed regions with a rate of one death in every 143 live births
Summary
There was no systematic study so far that analysed the extent of the impact of improved sanitation on infant mortality in the African context with long years of full-fledged longitudinal data. Aim: The aim of this study was to empirically examine the extent to which improved sanitation explains the observed differences in infant mortality under 5 years of age across African countries. Setting: The study covered a panel of 33 countries from north, south, east, west and central Africa for the years 1994–2013
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