Development in the study of Infant and Child Mortality

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Infant and child mortality has long been a topic of interest to population researchers because of its intricate relationship with issues of fertility and socioeconomic development and quality of life. The increased international attention on the study of early childhood mortality in recent times has been based on the understanding that considerable depletion of population during the infancy stage has a major contribution on reducing life expectancy of the population. Child health and mortality are important indicators of the success or failure of government policies as children's health has long-term impacts on their health and productivity as adults. Moreover, there is an increasing recognition that children are economic actors in their own right and their welfare has become one of the important indicators for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Hence, their well-being is worthy of study.