Infant mortality in the European Union and Bulgaria: tendencies and analyses
Information for nursing staff, 2022, 55(4), 42-47.
А. Chifligarska1, Е. Mineva-Dimitrova2, М. Kamburova2
1 Department of Nursing in Surgical Care, Faculty of Healthcare, Medical University – Pleven
2 Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University – Pleven
Abstract. Introduction. Infant mortality is an index, which measures the frequency of deaths from day 0 to 1 year per 1000 liveborn infants during a given year in a given territory. It is an index of the natural movement of population refl ecting the social-economic development and health prosperity of a given country. The purpose of this study was to analyze infant mortality in the European Union and in Bulgaria for the period 2012-2021. Materials and Methods. Secondary data from national and international sources have been used: the National Center of Public Health and Analyses, the National Statistics Institute, Eurostat, UNICEF. Correlation analysis has been applied. The correlation coeffi cient of Pearson has been calculated. Results and Discussion. Regarding the studied period, a tendency for reduction of infant mortality in the European Union from 3.8‰ for 2012, to 3.3‰ per 1000 live births in 2020 can be observed. In comparison with the countries in the European Union, Bulgaria has the highest coeffi cient of infant mortality (5.6‰), followed by Romania (5.2‰) and Slovakia (4.9‰). The lowest levels have been registered in Slovenia, Finland, and Sweden with coeffi cient of 1.8‰. Bulgaria occupies second place of perinatal mortality coeffi cient (7.9‰), after Luxemburg (10.1‰). Bulgaria and Romania have the highest levels of neonatal morality (3.1‰). The highest numbers of premature babies of all live births in Bulgaria was registered in 2014 (n = 6364) and 2018 (n = 6369). Conclusion. Infant mortality level reached during the past years is the lowest one in the demographic development of Bulgaria, although it continues to be two times higher than that of the countries in the European Union. One of the main tasks of society and healthcare is reduction of child mortality and improvement of the health condition of children and mothers, being priority groups of the population.
Key words: infant mortality, European Union, Bulgaria
Address for correspondence: Senior Assist. А. Chifligarska, PhD, e-mail: anelijach@mail.bg